Not necessarily. Social Security must consider and analyze opinions from treating doctors, but at the end of the day Social Security does not allow treating doctors to control the outcome of your claim. What’s most important is that your physician write a letter that does MORE than just say that “my patient is fully and permanently disabled”. Social Security will flat-out ignore that letter. Instead, if your physician can fill out a questionnaire or write a letter indicating what your exact physical and/or mental limitations are (such as “my patient can only stand/walk 2 hours throughout an 8-hour day”, or “my patient cannot tolerate interaction with the public or co-workers”), then Social Security must consider that opinion. Overall, it’s best to hire an attorney and have your attorney design a questionnaire that is custom-tailored to your specific medical condition for your doctor to complete.