Monday, February 29, 2016

The Social Security Administration Faces Lawsuit Over Two Suicides

Last May, the Social Security Administration attempted to stop the disability checks of nearly 1,800 Kentucky and West Virginia recipients who it alleged had obtained their benefits through fraud. The SSA sent letters stating that their disability checks would be cut off immediately.  SSDI recipients were told that they had only ten days to gather all their medical records to contest the decision.   
Understandably, many persons became despondent when they heard of the SSA's plan to stop their benefits.  Most of them were the innocent victims of an unscrupulous lawyer and a corrupt administrative law judge.  It is very clear that the vast majority of them didn't participate in any efforts to deceive the Social Security Administration.  It now turns out that the termination of benefits letters sent by the SSA appear to have played a significant role in two suicides.
Just a few weeks ago the estate of the two who committed suicide, Melissa Jude and Leroy Burchett, filed a lawsuit blaming the SSA for their deaths.  The lawsuit alleges that the SSA acted negligently, carelessly and recklessly in sending the suspension notices.  Furthermore, the plaintiffs state in their complaint that the SSA should have known that sending out hundreds of immediate suspension letters to vulnerable persons, many with serious mental health conditions, would lead to suicides.