When Mark Wood was found dead in his home in August 2013 it could have been just another tragic, but private, event for one family. But it wasn\u2019t. His death came a few months after his disability benefits had been cut because he had been declared \u201cfit for work\u201d by the assessors appointed by the government to implement its \u201cback-to-work\u201d strategy. When his body was discovered he weighed just 5 st 8 lbs.<\/p>\n
His sister Cathie said that 44-year-old Mark had struggled to live on just \u00a340 a week after his disability and housing benefits were cut. She says that his ongoing mental health problems, including anxiety, obsessive traits and an eating disorder, were seriously aggravated by the extra stress. A letter to the Jobcentre written by Mark\u2019s GP at the time his benefits were being cut was presented at the inquest into his death. In it, his doctor cautioned that Mark was \u201cabsolutely unfit for any work whatsoever\u201d. At the inquest, the GP told the coroner that, in his view, the loss of benefits was an \u201caccelerating factor\u201d in Mark\u2019s decline and eventual death.<\/p>\n
The circumstances surrounding Mark\u2019s death hit the UK headlines after his family launched a campaign calling on the government to rethink its cuts and other austerity-driven policy reforms. Yet his case is far from isolated. People have died from physical illnesses that have got worse after being subject to a Work Capability Assessment or having their benefits cut, and some have even taken their own lives.<\/p>\n
In August 2015, after a number of Freedom of Information requests, the government released mortality statistics on people who had died after being declared fit for work. The data did not cover how they died, and the government warned against any causal links being made between the deaths and the assessments, but the episode prompted calls for ministers to commission analysis so that any potential connections could be understood.<\/p>\n