Inside the battle to convince insurers that chronic fatigue syndrome is a legitimate illness

[Reporter Brian Vastag’s career] came to an end in July 2012, when he found himself afflicted by a mysterious and poorly understood illness that ended up sweeping away almost every vestige of his vigorous and productive life. To add insult to injury, he also had to endure a four-year battle with his insurance company to cover his disability claim for the condition he eventually learned was chronic fatigue syndrome.

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But because there is no widely accepted diagnostic test for chronic fatigue syndrome [many] of the 1 million or more Americans who have it are ridiculed and dismissed as delusional.

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Prudential refused to believe that Vastag could be so severely disabled, no matter what his doctors and other national experts on ME/CFS stated. With no alternative, Vastag retained two attorneys who specialize in disability issues [and sued Prudential.]

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[Judge Katharine] Hayden concluded that Prudential had wrongly denied Vastag’s benefits due to its “significant failure to understand the current state of medical knowledge about CFS and its devastating impact.”

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Vastag’s win against Prudential is a hopeful sign that individuals with ME/CFS, many of whom have been turned down for disability benefits under similar arguments, might finally be gaining the respect, sympathy, and support they have always deserved.

Read full, original post: The medical community is changing its mind on chronic fatigue syndrome. Why aren’t insurers?