Each week we'll be surveying what the media, state agencies, insurance companies, and others report in terms of workers' comp fraud. Just like a police blotter, our workers' comp fraud blotter lists recent arrests, charges, convictions and... Read More
(Lyrics and Performance by Lex Larson) This moving ballad is inspired by an actual case: Gyarmati v. George E. Fern Co., 2002 Ohio 4323 (Ct. App. 2002) .* Set to one of the many versions of the traditional song “Red Rocking Chair,” the... Read More
Claimant's capacity to return to work for 1 1/2 years after her back injury defeated her SIF claim that she was permanently and totally disabled. Her duties such as data entry, answering phones or monitoring suicidal patients were considered a ‘real... Read More
The claimant hurt his back in 2011 when he moved a 100-pound bag of sugar onto a pallet. The commission modified a finding that claimant not only strained his back, but hurt his prior degenerative spine, and increased the award more than $700,000. Valdez... Read More
By Marcus A. Roland, Esq. The Kentucky Workers' Compensation Board rendered 52 decisions for the month of August, 2012. Summaries regarding opinions of note are set forth below. Bush v. Jack Cooper Transport, et al , Claim No. 2007-7362 (August... Read More
It is the province of the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission to weigh the evidence—including expert medical testimony. Accordingly, where the Commission gave more weight to the employee’s medical expert—who opined that... Read More
This was sent to me by defense counsel (and fashion icon) Paula Witherow. I wanted her commentary on our cases du jour, but all I got was a copy of two decisions in the case of Cody Varnes v. Diamond State Mechanical . Paula is not one to boast, but boast... Read More
An Iowa employer is responsible for paying indemnity and medical benefits related to a serious back injury sustained by an employee while helping a friend move go-kart frames onto a trailer since substantial evidence indicated that six weeks earlier the... Read More
As Susan Hauske might say, defense lawyers we are on a roll. Susan was prompted to share the ruling du jour in light of my recent (9/6/12) post titled Walks on Water? , a discussion of a recent ruling in which surgery was denied, a rare occurrence here... Read More
Substantial evidence supported a finding by the Industrial Accident Board that a worker and his employer had settled the worker’s back injury claim where an examining physician (hired by the defense) wrote a report saying that as of the date of... Read More
A North Carolina appellate court affirmed a decision by the state’s Industrial Commission that found an injured worker’s request for assistance with housekeeping, cooking, and personal hygiene were “ordinary expenses of life” and... Read More
Missouri courts once again wrangle in the old grudge match between the evidentiary weight given to subjective and objective symptoms. Reformers thought they had put an end to those types of fights by indicating that " where inconsistent or conflicting... Read More
Greater medical consensus could reduce geographic variability A recent study published by the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine suggests that there is geographic variation in the use of medical treatment guidelines that reaches... Read More