A common fear with an injured worker is the impact of his or her employer, or the workers’ compensation insurance carrier, filing for bankruptcy. In Pennsylvania, an injured worker need not be concerned with such a development. Whether it is the bankruptcy of the employer, or the workers’ compensation insurance…
Pennsylvania Workers' Compensation Lawyer Blog
Pension Causes PA Workers’ Comp Benefits to Stop
As you may recall, last month I brought up the case of Mason v. WCAB (Joy Mining Machinery), in which the Commonwealth Court of PA punished an injured worker merely for taking his pension. In that case, the Court had said workers’ compensation benefits will be suspended, unless the injured…
Mandatory Mediation in PA Workers Compensation
On November 9, 2006, the most recent amendment to the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act, known as Act 147 of 2006, was signed into law. Several of the provisions of Act 147 were designed to quicken the litigation process in PA workers’ comp. One of those provisions created what is known…
Chronic Pain and OxyCodone in Workers Compensation
Regardless of whether we are seeing an injured worker suffering from a trauma to his or her arm, leg, neck, back, shoulder or any other part of the body, the common thing we are seeing is pain. Often, this is a chronic, unrelenting, pain. These are usually the cases when…
Job Referrals Must Be Actually Available to PA Workers’ Compensation Claimant
Experienced Pennsylvania workers’ compensation attorneys frequently are involved in cases where an injured worker, no longer able to perform his or her pre-injury job, is referred to other jobs in the community by a vocational counselor, at the request of the workers’ compensation insurance carrier. As lawyers who limit our…
Specific Loss Benefits Require Medical Evidence in PA Workers’ Comp
An injured worker in Pennsylvania is generally entitled to be compensated for his or her lost wages (called “indemnity” benefits), and have medical expenses related to the work injury paid. When an injured worker loses the use of certain parts of the body, payment can also be obtained (this is…
Prescription Advice for Injured Workers in Pennsylvania
It seems like such a basic thing. An injured worker goes to the doctor and gets a prescription. Big deal, right? What is there to think about? Well, maybe it isn’t so simple after all. Maybe there are some questions an injured worker should be asking when getting a prescription.…
Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD) and Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) Often Seen in PA Workers’ Comp
Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD), also known as Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) is a horrible condition we see all too often resulting from work injuries. This condition can develop from a traumatic work injury, even what previously seemed to be a relatively minor one. Scientists still do not seem to…
Workers’ Compensation Appeal Process in Pennsylvania
Even when an injured worker receives a decision from the Workers’ Compensation Judge (WCJ) in Pennsylvania, the case is not over. Either side may appeal the decision to the next level, the Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board (WCAB). Such an appeal must be filed within 20 days of the decision of…
Employer Need Not Show Job Not Available to Injured Worker in PA
One of the tools a workers’ compensation insurance company has in PA to reduce, or “modify,” workers’ compensation benefits is the Labor Market Survey (LMS) (Also called “Earning Power Assessment” (EPS)). This is used when the injured worker has physical limitations which prevent a return to the injured worker’s previous…