Giving birth to a child with a rare disease is often frightening and overwhelming. Although any child is a gift, one that needs extra medical care can be stressful on the whole family and its budget. Parents may need to take a leave of absence from work to care for the child, creating more fiscal troubles. Thankfully, the Social Security Administration has created the Compassionate Allowances program to help adults and children with rare or debilitating disorders.
Normally, applying for Social Security Disability benefits can be a long and difficult process. Several months may pass before a decision is made and the documents required for proving an existing disability can be complicated to obtain. However, if you or your child has a disease that is listed under the Compassionate Allowances, you automatically qualify for SSA benefits. The Compassionate Allowances program speeds up the application process to a couple of weeks and people can start receiving benefits much sooner than with the normal disability benefits process.
Once you or your child has been diagnosed with one of these disorders, it is important to begin the application process right away so that you can start receiving help as soon as possible.
Ornithine Transcarbamylase (OTC) Deficiency – Condition and Symptoms
Ornithine Transcarbamylase (OTC) Deficiency is a rare genetic disorder. Normally symptoms are present within the first three days of life. These can include breathing difficulties, extreme exhaustion, feeding troubles and death (in untreated cases). OTC is an enzyme that helps break down and remove nitrogen from the body. Without this particular enzyme, ammonium can build up in the brain and blood, causing hyperammonemia. This condition can cause delays in development and mental retardation.
There is currently no cure for OTC Deficiency. Treatment of the disorder focuses on lessening the symptoms. This can include a low protein diet (often a vegetarian diet is recommended) in order to help the body better process the nitrogen and avoid migraine-like headaches, and in some cases in which an individual is comatose, hemodialysis is used. Hemodialysis is a procedure that helps remove waste products from the body when the kidneys can’t do it themselves. This can help to rapidly reduce the amount of ammonia levels present in the blood.
Other treatment can include administering sodium benzoate, arginine and sodium phenyacetate to an individual intravenously. This must be done in a hospital setting in order to closely monitor the levels present in the body. Morbidity and mortality rates for this disorder are usually quite high. This is especially true for those with the neonatal form of the disease.
Filing for Social Security Disability with Ornithine Transcarbamylase (OTC) Deficiency
A child diagnosed with Ornithine Transcarbamylase (OTC) Deficiency automatically qualifies for Social Security Disability benefits, as it is a disorder listed as a Compassionate Allowance. This means that the process will be expedited for you and your child in order for you to start receiving help right away. As long as the correct documentation is had, you will be sped through the process in about three weeks and can receive whatever benefits you may qualify for at the start of the next benefit cycle.
Even with a disorder listed as a Compassionate Allowance it is still recommended that you speak with a Social Security Disability lawyer or advocate. A disability lawyer can review your claim and make sure you have the proper documents needed to get help for your child as soon as possible. They can make certain that filing your claim goes smoothly and pain-free. Having the help of a professional can make the whole process a lot less stressful for you and your family, giving you more time for what’s really important: your child.
When filing for disability for a child with Ornithine Transcarbamylase (OTC) Deficiency, having laboratory confirmation of the gene defect is a must. Definitively, this requires a liver biopsy in order to determine enzyme activity. However, this can be a risky procedure and often a family history of the disorder, plasma amino acid and urine orotic acid testing, and clinical presentation is sufficient for proving the defect.
Your Ornithine Transcarbamylase (OTC) Deficiency Social Security Disability Case
If your child has been diagnosed with Ornithine Transcarbamylase (OTC) Deficiency you can feel confident in the fact that he or she will surely receive benefits from the SSA. Even so, it’s still a in your best favor to have a Social Security Disability lawyer take a look at your case. You will want to be sure that you receive a Compassionate Allowance and an SSD lawyer can make sure that happens. In any case, you don’t want your claim to be delayed or denied due to missing documentation or paperwork that is not in order.
The best way to guarantee you get the help you need sooner rather than later is to speak with a Social Security Disability attorney. To have your case reviewed by an experienced attorney, fill out the request on this website for a free evaluation today.
