Is Sleep Apnea a disability?

Is Sleep Apnea considered a disability in the United States? If yes, I'd like to learn about the details and what special considerations SA patients are afforded. If not, should Sleep Apnea be considered a disability? I've been a Cpap user since 2006. I'm curious.

I found this link..

http://www.disabilitysecrets.com/dnewsb ... cover.html


edit

google JAN - job accommodation network (I am too lazy to find the link) - go to that site and research sleep issues - it can be but be aware asking for accommodation under ADA can lead to a lost job - the JAN site is at WVU I believe

there have been several threads here you can look for too - some have the links in them

Under the Americans with Disability Act, I think SA would count as a disability:

The ADA has a three-part definition of "disability." This definition, based on the definition under the Rehabilitation Act, reflects the specific types of discrimination experienced by people with disabilities. Accordingly, it is not the same as the definition of disability in other laws, such as state workers' compensation laws or other federal or state laws that provide benefits for people with disabilities and disabled veterans.

Under the ADA, an individual with a disability is a person who:

1.has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities;
2.has a record of such an impairment; or
3.is regarded as having such an impairment.

from http://www.adata.org/whatsada-definition.aspx

Sleep is a major life activity and OSA is a physical impairment that substantially limits it, if you are under treatment you have a record of the impairment and are regarded as having such an impairment.

As far as special considerations, that's not very clearcut. If you had a job that required you to sleep on the job (???) or provided sleeping accomodations as part of the work (e.g. night clerk at a motel), the workplace would have to provide reasonable accomodations so that you could use your CPAP machine. I think that's why airlines, as carriers of public accomodation, must allow you to take your equipment on board, and perhaps even allow you to use it on very long flights.

Does this meet the Social Security definition of disability to get disability income? Probably not. Here's how the Social Security Administration defines disability:

You cannot do work that you did before;
We decide that you cannot adjust to other work because of your medical condition(s); and
Your disability has lasted or is expected to last for at least one year or to result in death

. http://www.ssa.gov/dibplan/dqualify4.htm

I am glad that it doesn’t cause that degree of disability and that OSA is almost 100% treatable with therapy.

Don't know all the legalities, but if one's residual daytime sleepiness is not resolved with compliant treatment, the degree of impairment is considered. I have other things going on too, but from what I could gather in my hearing, the lack of predictability of my sleep episodes was a major factor in their determination.

Considering how easy it is to treat sleep apnea and the fact that, with said treatment pretty much all symptoms go away, I would never call this a disability.

To me, a disability is something that cannot be made to go away. Being paralyzed is a disability. I would not even remotely think to put myself with my OSA in the same catagory of hardship as someone in a wheelchair. I'd find that incredibly rude.

My OSA is treated - I no longer have any problems.

mattman

I do not plan to take a position on whether I believe OSA should be considered a disability. Like with a lot of diseases, I think there are a lot of variables among people and it's not my place to say yes or no to the question.

However, even a disease that the United States says is disabling doesn't necessarily mean a person with that disease can get disability. It makes it a bit easier if the disease is on their list, but it still is very, very difficult to be approved. Even a person that can show and prove that a disease has totally changed their life and made it impossible for them to continue working can still be denied.

And I think with something like OSA, that in a lot of cases CAN be effectively treated -- it would be a serious uphill battle.

mattman wrote:My OSA is treated - I no longer have any problems. mattman

So, I gather that your AHI numbers are 0.0 every single night??? Interesting.

Tielman wrote:

mattman wrote:My OSA is treated - I no longer have any problems. mattman

So, I gather that your AHI numbers are 0.0 every single night??? Interesting.

Woo! I wish. Nah. I mail my card in every 3-6 months and my AHI stays in the 2-5 range overall. Well under anything that I'd consider to be untreated apnea.

Certainly I don't feel the horrible sleepiness that I used to, don't snore like I used to and my O2 Sats stay up.

In other words, it's being treated.

mattman

Janknitz wrote:
Under the Americans with Disability Act, I think SA would count as a disability

Sleep is a major life activity

Where do you find sleep listed as a major life activity? ADA provides a non-exhaustive list of examples, NONE of which are similar to "sleep". Activity implies "active". All the ADA examples are "active" endeavors. Sleep is overwhelmingly passive. Federal courts have rejected arguments that "insomnia" is an ADA disability.

"Difficulty breathing" is one of the listed examples. Problem is, OSA causes breathing difficulty ONLY during sleep. We breathe just fine when awake. ADA implies he need for oxygen tanks/concentrators during wakeful breathing to qualify.

I think one would have a steep uphill court battle trying to get ADA protection for OSA. Especially since xPAP eliminates the most debilitating symptoms so easily.

Even if you could find some way to have have OSA considered a disability, you would probably have to show why you are physically unable to be effectively treated. Very few people have physical anomalies or injuries that would make them unable to use CPAP.

bearded--

You reminded me of a federal case I ran across in my research:

An airline pilot lost his flight status because company policy required 20-20 vision UNCORRECTED. His was 20-20 only with contacts. So he sued for ADA protection citing his "disability". The court ruled since his condition was treatable, it wasn't a "disability" under ADA. Yet, by company policy his UNTREATED imperfect vision "disabled" him from piloting.

A bit of a logical conundrum...

Yes, for me sleep apnea is a disability because it is not normal that you are having difficulty in sleep and in breathing.


buy wheelchairs

If you are speaking of the military it is considered a disability because you are a liability in combat. You will be discharged from the military and given an additional 50% pay. I have many patients that come into the sleep lab that are military and hope to have sleep apnea so they can be discharged and increase their pay. It is not considered a disability for any civilians.

mattman wrote:Considering how easy it is to treat sleep apnea and the fact that, with said treatment pretty much all symptoms go away, I would never call this a disability.

To me, a disability is something that cannot be made to go away. Being paralyzed is a disability.

Although I agree that OSA that is treated is not a disability, I do have to weigh in on the definition of disability. A person can be disabled for a time, receive a new treatment or succeed with an ongoing treatment, and then be able to work and enjoy an unhampered life. My definition of what is and what is not a disability is based on the ADA definition. By that definition, it is possible to be disabled at one point and get better at another. Also, being paralyzed or needing a wheel chair... these are not the only disabilities that "count." There are lots of invisible disabilities.