Limbic Encephalitis

Limbic Encephalitis (“LE”) is a type of encephalitis caused by an autoimmune disorder. The primary symptom of LE is short term memory (“STM”) loss. Other common symptoms are drowsiness, fatigue, confusion, seizures, headaches, hallucinations, anxiety and depression. 

I represent a 37 year old office manager with LE, whose Social Security Disability (“SSD”) benefits were approved today. The claimant's medical records documented all of the common LE symptoms. Although the LE was controlled, the claimant’s residual brain damage caused STM loss and confusion, which resulted in her forgetting where she was, and what she was doing. 

Based upon the objective medical condition, the LE, the Administrative Law Judge (“ALJ”) accepted the opinion of the treating neurologist that the claimant would be off task more than 15% of the time, would be unable to concentrate 90% of the time, and would be unable to maintain a regular schedule. After the vocational expert testified that those limitation precluded work, the ALJ ruled that the claimant was entitled to SSD benefits.