Doctors do not have the power to put a person on disability benefits. The decision as to who is disabled is reserved to the Commissioner of Social Security; this decision is usually made by administrative law judges.
However, your doctor does play a couple of vital roles in the consideration process:
1. Your doctor provides medical records which establishes your diagnoses, symptoms and treatments. Doctor's records can establish that you have a medically determinable impairment.
2. Your doctor may provide an opinion regarding how your symptoms limit your ability to perform work related activities. This opinion, in turn, may help Social Security to decide that you are disabled.
The final decision about whether a person is entitled to benefits, however, rests with Social Security, not with the doctor.
It is always best for the doctor to address functional limitations, not an opinion as to whether a patient is disabled or "able to work."
I always try to get a treating physician to render an opinion on such things as how long an individual can sit/stand/walk, how much he/she can lift and carry, and if there are restrictions on the use of hands, etc. It may also be useful to get an opinion on how often a person will need a break during an 8-hour workday or whether a person is impaired at understanding or carrying out simple instructions. There are quite a few other limitations I will ask the doctor about and they are very specific.
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