Social Security rectifies and grants disability to a cancer patient with metastasis

There are situations that cry out to heaven. And Pepe Espino’s (Barcelona, 54 years old) is one of them. With stage IV prostate cancer and metastases in bones, lungs, and soft tissues, the Institut Català d’Avaluacions Mèdiques (ICAM) discharged him to return to work after being on sick leave for two and a half years. Hence, the Instituto Nacional de la Seguridad Social (INSS) denied him permanent disability. All this despite having reports from his oncologist at the Clínic hospital detailing that he is undergoing palliative hormonal treatment whose symptoms “prevent him from performing any work activity.” In February, this newspaper covered the case. And now, fortunately, ICAM has rectified, and Pepe has already received the first payment from INSS of his disability pension.

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“It’s a relief, the end of a nightmare that should never have happened,” Pepe explains to La Vanguardia. However, he sees a paradox in his satisfaction: “After all, the Administration certifies that you have a serious diagnosis.”

It should be clarified, however, that this disability will be reviewed within four months, according to his lawyer Jaume Cortés, from Col·lectiu Ronda, who says he does not understand this decision as it involves “definitive sequelae.”

It all started in 2020 with a sharp pain in his back. Shortly after, and following an MRI, he not only learned that he had stage IV prostate cancer but that it had spread to bones, lungs, and soft tissues.

For a time, no less than two and a half years, he continued going to work. Although there came a point when it became unsustainable both because of the severity of the pathology and the side effects of the palliative hormonal treatment he follows.

In November, after being on sick leave for 30 months, ICAM summoned him to assess his disability. He went with reports from the oncologists at the Clínic hospital who have treated him from day one, explicitly stating that he is unable to perform any work activity. The tribunal’s ruling? Medical discharge and back to work.

His case is atypical due to his youth. He was diagnosed with the pathology at 48 years old. Since then, he has been on hormonal medication. Every four weeks, he undergoes blood tests and, if the result is positive, he is given medication for the following month.

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The treatment also consists of an injection every six months that causes chemical castration – to keep testosterone at zero -, which causes bone demineralization and, in turn, joint stiffness in hands and feet.

The medication also causes continuous fatigue, sharp pain in the nipples – due to the hormonal treatment – and cognitive effects. And all this together, as well as the uncertainty of not knowing how the pathology will evolve, causes him anxiety.

After being on sick leave for two and a half years, on November 28, ICAM summoned him for an evaluation. He was convinced the verdict would be favorable. After all, he had a report, among others, from his oncologist detailing that he is a patient with stage IV prostate cancer with bone, lung, and soft tissue metastases and undergoing palliative hormonal treatment whose symptoms “prevent him from performing any work activity.”

Well, the medical tribunal ruled against him, and consequently, the INSS denied him the permanent disability pension. He filed an appeal and contacted La Vanguardia. Regarding the appeal, his lawyer, Jaume Cortés, had little hope. After the case was published, a bit more.

Shortly after his story became public, ICAM summoned him again for a new review. And months later, the good news arrived.

Now Pepe only hopes that his story will serve so that other people in a similar situation can have a precedent to help them.

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