A number of people have been wondering if you can be disabled because of side effects to medications. Unfortunately, some have given up on their Social Security cases because they thought they could not be found disabled based solely on side effects to medications.

YES!!!

One of the clearest examples is chemotherapy in cases of cancer, or interferon treatment for hepatitis. These treatments sap your strength and can make you physically sick. They are clearly debilitating and even disabling.

However, side effects are not limited to these two instances. Side effects to medications can always be considered in a Social Security disability benefit case!   

If one of your prescribed drugs makes you “goofy,” or sleepy, or unable to drive, or unable to think straight, or unable to concentrate or unable to remember things, this is important! These details can make all the difference in your case!

Quick Example: drowsiness as a disabling side effect:

Here is a specific example: you take a medication which make you drowsy. Does this make you disabled? It depends on the circumstances:

• Do you get drowsy every time you take the medication or just sometimes?
• Are you drowsy, but still awake enough to safely operate a vehicle / drive a car / operate a forklift / operate a road grader, etc.?
• Do the medications make you so drowsy that you have a hard time staying awake, or read a book, or follow the plot of a tv program?
• When do you take the medications?  If you only take the medications at night (so you can sleep), it may not matter that the medications make you drowsy, UNLESS you are still drowsy into normal daytime hours.  

So, let’s say you take a medication three times a day, which always makes you drowsy enough that cannot drive, cannot follow the plot of a tv show and half the time requires you to lie down and sleep. This side effect lasts 1 to 2 hours, each time you take the medicine.

Is this enough to make you disabled? Well, that is up to Social Security, but, I think that this side effect would give you a good chance of winning Social Security disability benefits. 

If you doubt that you can be found disabled because of side effects, do not give up! Side effects can be disabling.