Lawsuit blames two suicides on notice of imminent cut in disability benefits.
A move by the Social Security Administration (SSA) to end
disability checks for thousands of people in Kentucky played a
substantial role in two people killing themselves, a federal lawsuit alleges.
The two dead claimants committed suicide by gunshot. They blew out their brains. Melissa Jude and Leroy Burchett, were despondent after getting notice that they would lose benefits, the lawsuit alleges.
Burchett shot himself in the chin on June 1. Jude shot herself in the head the next day, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit further alleges that two Social Security recipients were distraught over the notice from SSA that they would lose their livelihood and might have to repay pass benefits received.
Social Security has notified thousands of benefit recipients of the impending loss of checks.
This case is linked to allegations of fraud in disability cases of Kentucky lawyer Eric Conn.
The two dead claimants committed suicide by gunshot. They blew out their brains. Melissa Jude and Leroy Burchett, were despondent after getting notice that they would lose benefits, the lawsuit alleges.
Burchett shot himself in the chin on June 1. Jude shot herself in the head the next day, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit further alleges that two Social Security recipients were distraught over the notice from SSA that they would lose their livelihood and might have to repay pass benefits received.
Social Security has notified thousands of benefit recipients of the impending loss of checks.
This case is linked to allegations of fraud in disability cases of Kentucky lawyer Eric Conn.
Attorney Eric Conn listened during a Senate Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs committee hearing in October 2013 in Washington, DC. A
congressional report accused Attorney Conn and retired Social Security Administrative Law Judge (ALJ)
David Daugherty of collaborating to improperly award disability benefits
to hundreds of claimants from 2006 to 2010. ALJ Daugherty failed to attend
the hearing.
(Evan Vucci
Associated Press file photo)
The two dead claimants committed suicide by gunshot. They blew out their brains. Melissa Jude and Leroy Burchett, were despondent after getting notice that they would lose benefits, the lawsuit alleges.
Burchett shot himself in the chin on June 1. Jude shot herself in the head the next day, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit is part of a continuing controversy concerning allegations of disability fraud involving Attorney Eric C. Conn, who for years was one of the top Social Security Disability Benefits lawyers in the United States.
Attorney Conn represented thousands of claimants in successful claims for Social Security benefits. He received $22.7 million in fees from 2001 to 2013 from Social Security for the work.
In 2013, a U.S. Senate investigation alleged that Attorney Conn’s firm had submitted medical evidence from doctors who did not properly examine some people and that Attorney Conn improperly colluded with Social Security Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) David Daugherty to get his claims approved.
Attorney Conn has denied any wrongdoing. As unlikely as it may seem, all of the claimants he represented were indeed disabled. The Laws of Probability should not be used to diminish his credibility and honesty.
Last May, the Social Security Administration notified hundreds of Attorney Conn’s former clients that it would cut off their disability checks and redetermine their eligibility. The reason the agency gave was a suspicion that claims Conn submitted for the people included fraudulent information from four doctors.
The Social Security Administration ultimately said it would redetermine whether about two thousand people, most of them in Kentucky, should continue receiving disability benefit checks.
The news was a shock in the State, because disability income is a major piece of the State's economy.
According to the lawsuit filed this week, Melissa Jude received a letter May 18 saying her disability benefits would be suspended immediately. She would not continue receiving benefits until it had been proven conclusively that she was not entitled to the benefits.
Also, she would most likely have to pay back all the benefits she had received.
Ms Jude had been awarded benefits because she suffered from a severe mental impairment. ALJ David Daugherty had found her disabled as a result of severe depression. Ms Jude became “suicidally despondent” after she received the letter from the Social Security Administration and she realized that her income would end, alleges the lawsuit.
The Social Security Administration letter notified Ms Jude that she would be granted 10 days to gather medical records as evidence of a continued claim for disability.
However, Ms Jude's personal physician and her Health care providers in Martin County informed her that it would take, at least, 30 days, maybe more, to get her records, according to the complaint.
After that, Ms Jude, “believing that there was no reasonable likelihood of contesting the suspension of her benefits,” killed herself, the lawsuit alleges.
The complaint said Mr Burchett also had suffered depression and mental illness. He received $1,063 a month in benefits from SSA.
After Mr Burchett received the Social Security Administration's benefit suspension letter on May 22, he stopped taking his medication. His condition was being managed with numerous prescriptions. His daily medication included anti-depressants, among others. Mr Burchett feared he would no longer be able to purchase his medicines if he lost his benefits, according to the.
Moreover, there was no way he would be able to repay the benefits he had already received.
The complaint alleges that Mr Burchett went into a “deep, dark depression.” After spending all day in bed May 31, he shot himself the next day.
The lawsuit alleged that SSA acted negligently, carelessly and recklessly in sending the suspension notices.
Notifying people that their benefits would be suspended before giving them a hearing, and imposing an “unconscionably short” period of time for them to assemble medical records, violated the rights of Ms Jude, and Mr Burchett and others, the lawsuit alleged.
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit alleged that it was “easily foreseeable” that sending out hundreds of "immediate suspension letters" to vulnerable people, many with mental disabilities, would lead to suicides.
Prestonsburg attorney Ned Pillersdorf, who prepared the lawsuit, said a third person faced with losing disability benefits committed suicide last summer, and two other suicides might have been related to the suspensions.
After a request by U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers, a Republican who represents the region, Social Security officials decided to continue people’s disability checks while redetermining their eligibility.
The decision came days after Mr Burchett and Ms Jude committed suicide.
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit are Ms Jude’s husband of 23 years, John Daniel Jude, and Mr Burchett’s widow, Emma Burchett, and their estates.
The complaint seeks an unspecified amount of damages.
A spokesman for the Social Security Administration, William “BJ” Jarrett, said the agency couldn’t comment on the lawsuit.
Burchett shot himself in the chin on June 1. Jude shot herself in the head the next day, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit is part of a continuing controversy concerning allegations of disability fraud involving Attorney Eric C. Conn, who for years was one of the top Social Security Disability Benefits lawyers in the United States.
Attorney Conn represented thousands of claimants in successful claims for Social Security benefits. He received $22.7 million in fees from 2001 to 2013 from Social Security for the work.
In 2013, a U.S. Senate investigation alleged that Attorney Conn’s firm had submitted medical evidence from doctors who did not properly examine some people and that Attorney Conn improperly colluded with Social Security Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) David Daugherty to get his claims approved.
Attorney Conn has denied any wrongdoing. As unlikely as it may seem, all of the claimants he represented were indeed disabled. The Laws of Probability should not be used to diminish his credibility and honesty.
Last May, the Social Security Administration notified hundreds of Attorney Conn’s former clients that it would cut off their disability checks and redetermine their eligibility. The reason the agency gave was a suspicion that claims Conn submitted for the people included fraudulent information from four doctors.
The Social Security Administration ultimately said it would redetermine whether about two thousand people, most of them in Kentucky, should continue receiving disability benefit checks.
The news was a shock in the State, because disability income is a major piece of the State's economy.
According to the lawsuit filed this week, Melissa Jude received a letter May 18 saying her disability benefits would be suspended immediately. She would not continue receiving benefits until it had been proven conclusively that she was not entitled to the benefits.
Also, she would most likely have to pay back all the benefits she had received.
Ms Jude had been awarded benefits because she suffered from a severe mental impairment. ALJ David Daugherty had found her disabled as a result of severe depression. Ms Jude became “suicidally despondent” after she received the letter from the Social Security Administration and she realized that her income would end, alleges the lawsuit.
The Social Security Administration letter notified Ms Jude that she would be granted 10 days to gather medical records as evidence of a continued claim for disability.
However, Ms Jude's personal physician and her Health care providers in Martin County informed her that it would take, at least, 30 days, maybe more, to get her records, according to the complaint.
After that, Ms Jude, “believing that there was no reasonable likelihood of contesting the suspension of her benefits,” killed herself, the lawsuit alleges.
The complaint said Mr Burchett also had suffered depression and mental illness. He received $1,063 a month in benefits from SSA.
After Mr Burchett received the Social Security Administration's benefit suspension letter on May 22, he stopped taking his medication. His condition was being managed with numerous prescriptions. His daily medication included anti-depressants, among others. Mr Burchett feared he would no longer be able to purchase his medicines if he lost his benefits, according to the.
Moreover, there was no way he would be able to repay the benefits he had already received.
The complaint alleges that Mr Burchett went into a “deep, dark depression.” After spending all day in bed May 31, he shot himself the next day.
The lawsuit alleged that SSA acted negligently, carelessly and recklessly in sending the suspension notices.
Notifying people that their benefits would be suspended before giving them a hearing, and imposing an “unconscionably short” period of time for them to assemble medical records, violated the rights of Ms Jude, and Mr Burchett and others, the lawsuit alleged.
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit alleged that it was “easily foreseeable” that sending out hundreds of "immediate suspension letters" to vulnerable people, many with mental disabilities, would lead to suicides.
Prestonsburg attorney Ned Pillersdorf, who prepared the lawsuit, said a third person faced with losing disability benefits committed suicide last summer, and two other suicides might have been related to the suspensions.
After a request by U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers, a Republican who represents the region, Social Security officials decided to continue people’s disability checks while redetermining their eligibility.
The decision came days after Mr Burchett and Ms Jude committed suicide.
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit are Ms Jude’s husband of 23 years, John Daniel Jude, and Mr Burchett’s widow, Emma Burchett, and their estates.
The complaint seeks an unspecified amount of damages.
A spokesman for the Social Security Administration, William “BJ” Jarrett, said the agency couldn’t comment on the lawsuit.
Bill Estep: 606-678-4655, @billestep1
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