Myalgic Encephalopathy (M.E.), Refused medical retirement

may99

Hope it is okay to post on this board but I was wondering how common it is to have ME and the doctors say your are unfit to work but you are still refused medical retirement as you may get better before retirement age.

kyh

May

I suppose it depends on how depbilitating your Me/CFS is. Might be worth seeking help from one of the ME websites as they have contacts who can advise you. How long have you had your diagnosis and how bad does it make you? I have had it for 11 years now and through a supportive employer managed to hold down the same job during that time -I do have a mild case but when I have a relapse I am very disabled by it for a significant period of time. Can you ask your employer for flexible hours?

may99

Thanks for replying so quick

It is the works doctors that have said I am unfit to work but they will not pay out the pension as I may get better before retirement age in 15 years.

soolin

ME affects different people in different ways and many do go on to be (almost) cured, I have worked with many people who have been acutely disabled by it for many years only to show no real signs of it by the time I met them.

As many people do recover it makes the illness itself an acute one not a chronic one and that's where the problem between being currently unfit for work and not being entitled to retire occurs. To be entitled to 'retire' the condition needs to be ongoing, ie chronic with no hope of recovery. This is also something that affects people with cancer, unless the cancer becomes terminal it is treated as an acute illness and therefore recoverable.

That really is a simplistic response and of course just having a chronic condition doesn't automatically mean that people are able to retire, or even be signed off work. it is just useful to know the difference between chronic and acute.

Going slightly off topic, have you considered seeing a different specialist as there are as many ideas of how to treat ME as there are sufferers and if you currently are unable to work maybe it would give you a boost to see a different consultant who could put you on a different regime and maybe allow you to work just a little. That might actually make you feel better about yourself which is never a bad thing. It might seem unsrmountable at the moment, but that is all part of the condition, many of the ME suffferers I have known have gone on to have quite fulfilled working lives.

kyh

This is a difficult one - my employer wanted to make me unfit to work 11 years ago when i was first diagnosed but I pushed to stay. They have since been really supportive with rehabilitation. I am well most of the time now but my last relapse had me off work and on reduced hours for over 6 months whilst I was undergoing rehab. I use a graded exercise programme with pacing which works for me, I now recognise the signs of a relapse as well having lived with this for 11 years.

Education about your condition, referral to a specialist (rheumatologists are the in thing) and also a physiotherapist. You can also be referred for CBT (ognitive Behaviour Therapy) - this works for some people and is a good way to develop an understanding of pacing.

What job do you do?

bdmum1

May99

Below is (hopefully!) a link to a report written by Charles Shepherd, Former Medical Advisor to the ME Association; this specifically addresses the issue of Medical Retirement for CFS/ME cases.

http://www.me-ed.co.uk/shepprog.htm

I was finally diagnosed with CFS/ME about 6 years ago, and I finished work soon after to begin an 18 month Graded Excercise Treatment Programme. After 12 months absence my employment contract was terminated on health grounds. Once the Treatment Programme had finished and there had been no improvement, my former employers suggested I apply for Ill Health Retirement / Early Payment of Pension Rights. I found the above document when compiling evidence for my application.

My application was successful and I received all my Pension Benefits early (lump sum and pension), at the age of 47, on the basis that it was highly unlikely I would ever be fit enough to return to my former employment. I believe the document played a major part in helping me get a successful outcome.

Good luck and if you want any more info, please ask away!

Regards

M.E.

I had to give up work in 1986 because of M.E. though it wasn't diagnosed as such. I've been on benefit since then.
It changed my life and I have adjusted, but I'd rather had the knowledge and help that is currently available rather than being left to fester and get worse as was my case.
I'm sure I would have fared better if I had known earlier.
I am coming up to retirement age in 18 months and I'm not sure what will happen then. I will get a small works pension from 1986 as I was in a high paid job then.

annie12

Hi, I have M.S but have had a similar problem.
I have been off work since 2006.
I applied for cedical retirement & was refused for the same reasons as yourself.
I appealed with medical info from my consultant.
I hav now won my appeal.

My advice is to appeal.

Good luck

Annie x

ohreally

may99 wrote: »

It is the works doctors that have said I am unfit to work but they will not pay out the pension as I may get better before retirement age in 15 years.

Be aware it is not the decision of the doctors to authorise the pension payout, it is the scheme trustees who will decide on benefits access. The DR. will only give an opinion - ask to be copied in on all communications re yourself. Is this cin the public or private sector?

LameWolf

For what its worth, I had to get the Union involved in order to get my medical retirement.

Basically, my employer knew full well that I'd never be able to work again, but they wanted me to resign, so that they wouldn't have to provide a pension.

The occy health people recommended that I be retired, as did my own GP, rheumy, and psychiatrist, but the accountants didn't want to do that.

It took 2 years of arguing, but I got there in the end.

TomsMom

M.E. wrote: »

I had to give up work in 1986 because of M.E. though it wasn't diagnosed as such. I've been on benefit since then.
I am coming up to retirement age in 18 months and I'm not sure what will happen then.

I was on incapacity benefit for a few years, my GP used to put CFS on my sick note. When I reached retirement age in January this year my IB stopped and my state pension started. I had previously asked for a pension forecast and made the arrangements for weekly payments.

When enquiring about the IB I was told it would not be paid past my 60th birthday and I would receive my pension.