Proving the Long COVID-19 Cognitive Deficit ERISA Long Term Disability Case

The population of individuals suffering from post-COVID 19 symptoms has grown exponentially and has left a substantial percentage of them too disabled to work. Estimates of COVID-induced disability range from 10% to more than 30% of those who have suffered from COVID-19 depending on the definition of the syndrome used to establish the diagnosis. This course will acquaint legal practitioners with Long COVID or Post-acute Sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC) and will include a basic legal strategy to prove the long COVID ERISA LTD disability case. 

The presentation will focus on a basic overview of PASC definitions and PASC symptom incidence rates, and zero in on some of the most commonly reported symptoms associated with disability such as cognitive dysfunction or brain fog, fatigue, pain, and post-exertional malaise (PEM). Attorney Barbara Comerford and Clinical Neuropsychologist Gudrun Lange will present aspects of case preparation following federal case law in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome, which is most similar to the PASC presentation of symptoms in Long COVID cases; and objective assessment methods that need to be included to prove subjective complaints of fatigue, pain, and PEM. The presentation will especially focus on cognitive assessments, such as the types of testing measures administered in a typical battery used in disability determinations that will allow for a valid interpretation of the data gathered. Finally, case studies will be provided to show what types of cases will benefit from these assessment measures. 

1. Define and analyze Long COVID disability and PASC 

2. Identify measures used in PASC disability determinations

3. Explore how a neuropsychological assessment can be beneficial in proving a PASC ERISA LTD disability case

4. Prepare a Long COVID ERISA LTD claim by reviewing federal cases where similar ERISA LTD claims, which were based in whole or in part on cognitive deficits, were decided