According to the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, recent advances in hip replacements have made the procedure easier, and made the results last longer. All of the news is not good, however, as these advances may come with potential consequences. Metal-on-metal hip replacements can dramatically improve a patient’s quality of…
**Update – This opinion was vacated (withdrawn) by the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania on February 24, 2011. The en banc (all of the Judges) Court will review the case and issue a new decision** Under the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act, an employer or, more likely, workers’ compensation insurance carrier, has…
Under the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act, to be eligible for PA workers’ comp benefits, the disabled person must be an “employee.” Often, this is obvious and not even in question. There are times, however, when a case turns on whether, in fact, the injured person was truly an “employee.” We…
In PA workers’ comp, when an injured worker returns to employment, there is a change in the workers’ compensation benefits he or she receives. If the injured worker is again earning the wages he or she earned before the work injury, then workers’ comp benefits are stopped completely (“suspended”). If…
As noted in the previous blog posting, the PA Workers’ Compensation Act mandates that an Impairment Rating Evaluation (IRE) must be performed using the “most recent edition” of the American Medical Association’s Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment. The most recent edition is the Sixth Edition, published around January…
In Pennsylvania workers’ comp, as in workers’ compensation systems throughout the U.S., the American Medical Association’s Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment is being used to assess disability. In other words, an injured worker’s condition and ability to work is being determined by referencing a book, distancing any subjectivity…
It is funny how, after relatively few PA workers’ compensation hearing loss cases were decided by the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, now, all of a sudden, it seems like every case decided by the Court is on this issue. In our previous blog post, we mentioned that an injured worker…
Though, generally speaking, Pennsylvania’s workers’ compensation system is based purely on wage loss, there are exceptions to the rule. With most work-related injuries in PA, workers’ comp is paid only if the injured worker is disabled from his or her job by the work injury. One large exception is the…
When either party to a PA workers’ compensation case wants an opinion on whether medical treatment is reasonable and necessary (and this is usually requested by the workers’ comp insurance carrier, rather than the injured worker), the procedure is to file a Request for Utilization Review (UR). The Pennsylvania Bureau…
The impact of pensions and “retirement” on PA workers’ compensation cases seems to be a frequent issue visited by the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania. Just last month, we told you about the decision in City of Pittsburgh v. Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board (Robinson) [Where the Court found that a “disability”…