Of course, how can the disability criteria be strict if many of the conditions that qualify as disabilities are inherently unverifiable? If you say you have back pain, as just one example, then you have it. That a doctor also says so is nearly meaningless — he’s just parroting the patient — and if you visit enough doctors, you’ll always find one sympathetic enough to validate your pain. That’s especially true when many doctors are basically expert witnesses for the SS disability bar.