No. The United States Supreme Court ruled in the case of Nord v. Black & Decker that the insurance company was not required to give any special deference to the claimant's treating doctor. Nord's doctor concluded that he was suffering from rapidly deteriorating degenerative disc disease, advised him to stop working and certified to the insurance company that he was disabled. The human resources department of his employer, Black & Decker, backed his claim. Nonetheless, the insurance company, MetLife, got the opinion of a doctor who said that Nord could take pain medication and get up periodically to walk around at work and that he was not disabled. As a result, Nord lost his case seeking disability insurance benefits.
