Take a look at our April newsletter!
For The Ambitious Advocate BRIEF RECESS
APRIL 2024
FROM THE LAW OFFICES OF J. PRICE MCNAMARA
Spring Is Here — With Honeybees!
If you’ve ever thought about raising honeybees, well so have we! We’ve thought it might be cool to become beekeepers for a while now, so we finally pulled the trigger. As luck would have it, my wife has a retired patient, George, who’s been raising bees for years. He has a dozen hives where he lives about an hour north of Baton Rouge. After George invited my son to come harvest the honey a couple of years ago, he came home really fascinated with the process, and we kept talking about doing it ourselves. More recently we started watching videos and reading up on the slow process of starting a new hive. Then we called George for some pointers on where to buy the boxes and other tools needed for the process. He told us everything we needed and where to get a queen and a starter set of bees, known as a “nuc,” short for “nucleus colony.” He also gave us lots of tips on what to do. A few weeks later, just after we decided on a weekend to pick up supplies and put it all into action, George called my son and said, “I don’t need a dozen hives, I can do with 11! Just buy one of my established hives, and you’ll have a full honey harvest (he calls it robbing) by the end of the summer!” So, our weekend plan changed to picking up the working hive from George. Nice! Pictured are my two sons going into the hive for the first time to locate the queen. You need to make sure she’s in the lowest level of the hive box and laying eggs before you put a “super” level on top to give them more room to produce honeycomb and honey. That’s the queen circled in the photo. You can see how her body is a little longer than the others. So back to the original question: How many honeybees live in the little box? The answer: George tells us the hive box he sold us houses about 30,000 honeybees, and that number will grow to 40,000–50,000 by late summer. Seemed impossible until learning that the queen lays up to 2,000 eggs per day! See other fascinating honeybee facts in this newsletter!
Question: How many honeybees live in the little box pictured here? You won’t believe the answer!
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Company Changes to More Agree METLIFE’S INCRED The Story of Jim’s Battle Again Our client, William (not his real name), was denied long-term disability insurance benefits under an employee benefits plan insured by MetLife. He was a 44-year-old IT administrator earning about $140,000 per year before becoming disabled due to ongoing medication side effects and complications of psoriatic arthritis with associated neuropathy and fibromyalgia. William has long been treated by reputable neurologists, rheumatologists, and a primary care physician, and hung on to his work for years on the fringe of capability before finally giving in and filing for disability on his doctors’ advice. All agree that he cannot reliably work in any occupation, even part-time, due to the chronic pain syndrome associated with his condition, as well as the sedating side effects of his required medications.
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You matter. It’s an easy thing to forget with the overwhelming obligations and responsibilities most people have, but you matter. Everyone, including you, must practice self-care to ensure their happiness and peace of mind. Disconnect From Technology The connectivity provided by technology comes with several benefits, but they have just as many drawbacks. Companies design phones to be addictive. Your brain releases a little dopamine whenever you get a notification, not unlike a slot machine. That’s why we constantly check our phones, even when they don’t ring or vibrate. Meanwhile, studies correlate heavy social media usage with profound feelings of loneliness and depression. Everyone needs to distance themselves from technology every so often. Try leaving your phone at home when you go outside or set a specific no- screen time. Better yet, dive into nature. Practice yoga in the park or hike through the woods and breathe in the fresh air instead of scrolling. Dream More Our bodies demand that we spend about a third of the day sleeping, and it does so for a reason. Almost every cell needs time to refresh and renew. But many people continue to shrug off sleep, which falls to the bottom of their priorities. Take the time to increase your sleep quality. It helps almost every part of your body, from brain to toe. To do so, implement positive sleep habits. Don’t watch TV before bed, keep your bedroom dark, and put your phone on “do not disturb.” HAPPIER AND HEALTHIER YOU
Does your office turn away calls about “long-term disability insurance” claim denials because you don’t handle administrative appeals or “ERISA litigation” in federal court? We want to hear from you! We happily share fees on referred ERISA long-term disability, life insurance, and accidental death insurance denial cases. Send us an email at BriefRecess@jpricemcnamara.com or call (225) 201-8311 to start the referral process! WE VALUE YOUR REFERRALS! William’s condition varies unpredictably from day to day. On a good day, he can sit for about 2 hours, stand for about 10 minutes, and walk about 300 feet without pain. On a bad day, he spends most of the day in bed. Initially, MetLife expressly found William disabled from his occupation as an IT administrator and paid him long-term disability benefits for two years. Benefits were then terminated, even though the U.S. Social
Indulge Yourself It’s all too easy to devote our lives to other people, but taking time for ourselves is essential. Some me-time lets you get some perspective through joy. Once a month, push the responsibilities away and spend the day doing what you love. If you want a spa day, get a massage. If you’d prefer to paint figurines in your basement, that’s all you. We spend most of our time in our heads, preoccupied with our thoughts and focused on our obligations. It’s not good for our mental health. The sheer weight of life is heavy on our shoulders and minds. Ease those worries and anxieties by putting the phone away, getting a good night’s sleep, and spending quality time with ourselves.
ERISA is all we do!
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eable Reviewers in Disability Case DIBLE ABOUT-FACE nst Unjust Benefit Termination
Amazing Honeybee Facts!
Security Administration declared him totally disabled from any gainful employment, and is currently paying him full disability benefits.
So what gives? It’s hard to imagine that a person would voluntarily end a lucrative career to create a consistent record of extreme complaints, frequent doctor visits voicing those complaints, therapy, and medication trials to perpetrate fraud. MetLife Policy Definition Changes MetLife’s policy had a common provision providing that for the first two years of coverage, “disabled” was defined as the inability to engage in his “own occupation” as IT administrator when he first became disabled. But after two years, that definition changed to the inability to engage in “any occupation.” The provision states: You are not able to engage with reasonable continuity in any occupation in which You could reasonably be expected to perform satisfactorily in light of Your age; education; training; experience; station in life; and physical and mental capacity that exists within [certain geographical locations irrelevant to our issues]. Hired Gun Record Reviewers OK, I get it. Someone can be prohibited from working in their former occupation, but still be fit to work in another occupation, and MetLife isn’t bound by the Social Security Administration’s finding that William is totally disabled from any gainful employment. But here’s what doesn’t make sense. Despite William’s medical condition being progressive, and actually deteriorating over the two years since MetLife itself found, through opinions by its own physician medical record reviewers, that his medical records supported restrictions and limitations prohibiting him from working in his former occupation, MetLife’s newly retained record review doctors claim to have found no evidence in those same records to support any restrictions or limitations at all. It’s no mystery why MetLife didn’t engage its original record- reviewing physicians to opine on disability at the two-year mark. We all know what they would have said. But unfortunately, under ERISA and its weird procedures, we can’t depose MetLife’s experts. Our hope is that the court will agree that MetLife’s decision to engage different physician medical review physicians, then rely on those opinions, which are at odds with MetLife’s original experts, lacks good faith, and the outlier opinions of MetLife’s new experts lack credibility.
I didn’t know any of this until recently, but I thought the following was pretty amazing.
Honeybee Facts and Roles by Sex
Workers: Sex: Female
Role: Perform all the work of the colony, including foraging for nectar and pollen, caring for the queen and larvae, cleaning the hive, and protecting the colony. Can they sting? Yes, workers can sting but die once they do because their stinger is barbed and gets stuck in the skin of mammals, causing fatal injury to the bee. Interaction with others: Workers can sting invaders or threats to the hive but do not sting their hive mates. Drones: Sex: Male Role: Their primary role is to mate with a virgin queen. They do not forage for food, care for larvae, or participate in other colony duties. Can they sting? No, drones do not have a stinger and are completely harmless. Interaction with others: Drones are dependent on the workers for food and are often expelled from the hive in the autumn to conserve resources. Queen: Sex: Female Role: The queen’s primary role is to lay eggs. She is the mother of all bees in the colony. Can they sting? Yes, the queen has a stinger, but it is smooth and not barbed, allowing her to sting multiple times without dying. However, she typically only uses it to sting rival queens. Interaction with others: The queen is attended to by worker bees who feed and groom her. She rarely leaves the hive except for her mating flight or if the colony swarms to establish a new hive. Egg Laying: In spring and summer, the peak season for egg laying, a healthy queen can lay up to 1,500–2,000 eggs per day. This high rate of egg laying is essential for the rapid growth and sustainability of the colony during the seasons when resources are abundant and the colony is preparing for winter.
We’ll see.
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ERISA INSURANCE J. PRICE MCNAMARA Claim Attorney
10455 Jefferson Hwy. Suite 130 Baton Rouge, LA 70809 (225) 201-8311 WinMyBenefits.com
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
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We Are Now Beekeepers
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Self-Care Practices to Help You Thrive
Disability Benefits Disappear After 2 Years!
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Amazing Honeybee Facts
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Protective Pup Takes a Bullet for His Owner — And Survives!
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In a heartwarming tale of courage and resilience, a pit bull named Kilo defied the odds after being shot in the head while bravely protecting his owner. The incident unfolded when an intruder invaded Kilo’s home. In a shocking turn of events, Kilo’s instinct to shield his owner led to a life- threatening injury, but “Super Pitty” survived, capturing many hearts, too. One Saturday evening 12 years ago on Staten Island, a gunman posing as a FedEx deliveryman rang the doorbell of Kilo’s home. He didn’t wait long before he pushed his way into the apartment. Kilo’s human, Justin Becker, told CBS, “He barged in. My first reaction after seeing the gun was to push him out, so I pushed him to the door.” Becker’s girlfriend, Nicole Percoco, had been holding Kilo during this encounter and let him go. Kilo jumped into action, fighting back against the invader, unfortunately getting shot in the fight. Luckily, the bullet just missed Kilo’s skull, entering and exiting right under his ears, said Dr. Gregory L. Panarello, the medical director of South Shore Animal Hospital. After a 40-minute surgery to remove bullet fragments, he was patched up and even given a superhero insignia on his bandage. Three days later, Kilo was up and going on every dog’s favorite pastime: walkies. Kilo’s story is a powerful reminder of the indomitable spirit of canine companions and the strength of their love for us. Even 12 years later, Super Pitty Kilo’s story still spreads love and happiness. Give your pet an extra cuddle tonight so they know just how much you love them!
KILO’S AMAZING BRAVERY AND SURVIVAL
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