Primary Biliary Cirrhosis Disability Claims

Primary biliary cholangitis, previously named primary biliary cirrhosis, is a chronic liver disease. This disease slowly destroys the bile ducts in the liver. Bile is a fluid manufactured by the liver that helps with digestion and to help the body rid itself of cholesterol, toxins, and aged red blood cells. If the bile ducts of the liver are damaged, the bile cannot flow through its normal pathways, leading to irreversible scarring of liver tissue.

Primary biliary cholangitis is an autoimmune disease where the body’s systems attack health cells and tissue. The disease develops slowly; medication can slow the damage if found early enough.

Symptoms range, depending upon how long the disease has been progressing. The disease is often only found when blood work is done for another reason. Early-stage symptoms include fatigue, itchy skin, dry eyes and mouth. Later symptoms include pain in the upper right abdomen, swelling of the spleen, bone, muscle, or joint pain, swollen feet and ankles, buildup of fluid in the abdomen because of liver failure, fatty deposits around the eyes or eyelids, jaundice, osteoporosis, high cholesterol, or hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid). Over time, primary biliary cholangitis can lead to decreased mental function, liver cancer, gallstones and bile duct stones, an enlarged spleen, and liver scarring, which leads to additional medical complications.

The Law Office of Justin Frankel, a disability insurance law firm, has worked with many claimants suffering from primary biliary cholangitis. They have successfully fought back against the disability insurance companies that have tried to deny their claims. The firm has represented individuals who own their own private disability policies, known as “individual policies,” as well as those that are secured through their employer and governed by federal law known as ERISA.

If you are suffering from primary biliary cholangitis and your disability insurance company has denied your claim, contact the Law Office of Justin Frankel at 888-583-4959. Note that if your disability insurance policy is from your employer, you only have a short window of time in which to file an appeal. Don’t delay.