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Recent Updates
June 21, 2010
Death Resulting from Work Injury
June 14, 2010
Tippecanoe County Jail Inmate Receives Incorrect Medical Treatment
June 11, 2010
Bus Accident Leaves One Dead and Several Injured
May 18, 2010
Indiana Medical Malpractice & Wrongful Death ? Rights to My Loved One?s Patient Medical Records
May 07, 2010
Hamilton County Indiana Jail Death
May 03, 2010
One Worker Dead Following Indiana Construction Accident
April 27, 2010
Car Accident Indianapolis Results in Serious Injuries
April 19, 2010
Trucking Accident Northern Indiana
March 29, 2010
Press Release from NTSA
March 24, 2010
Pallet Falls, Kills Kroger Employee
Worker's Compensation
According to US Department of Labor report entitled Workplace Injuries and Illnesses in 2004, there are 4.3 million workplace injuries and illnesses reported in private industry which is approximately 4.8 cases per 100 full-time workers per year. In Indiana, if you sustain a work-related accident, your employer, through their worker's compensation insurance company, directs all of your medical care. Therefore, it is extremely important that you report any accident or injury in the workplace to your employer immediately. Failure to report an injury in a timely manner may result in your worker's compensation claim being denied. Once you have reported your injury, your employer should instruct you where to go for medical treatment. If your injury prevents you from returning to work and you are off of work for more then 7 days, you are entitled to receive disability benefits at the rate of 2/3 of your Average Weekly Wage (AWW). Your employer must provide medical treatment until you reach Maximum Medical Improvement (MMI). At that time you will be released from doctor's care and your disability benefits will terminate. If your injury has any lasting effects, the treating physician may assign permanent work restrictions and a Permanent Partial Impairment (PPI) rating. This impairment rating directly affects the amount of money that you will receive for settlement of your worker's compensation claim. For more information including how to obtain more medical treatment or challenge the work comp doctor's impairment rating, call or email the attorneys at Wagner Reese & Crossen.
Please Report All Work Related Injuries
Posted by: Judy Pippin
January 25, 2008
If you have been injured at work, then you must report the injury. This is such a simple message, but one that we need to be reminded of on occasion. This week alone I have received two phone calls from injured workers who failed to timely report their injuries. Sometimes, an injured employee may believe the injury is too insignificant to report, or that they will be fired if their injury is reported. Whatever reason you may have for not reporting an injury, please re-think it. While I think we can still help these individuals, I want to get the message out--Report your injury to your employer when it happens.
There is a possibility that when you report your injury to your employer, you may be told not to worry about worker's compensation and that your employer will take care of all of your treatment. The majority of the time, when an employer states that they will personally take care of you, and not to worry about filing a worker's compensation claim, it is untrue. Unfortunately, most employers who state this end up ignoring their employee's health care complaints and/or any medical bills that have been accrued. This will result in a delay in the reporting the injury to the worker's compensation insurance company, a delay in benefits received, and ultimately the worker is the one who will end up suffering. In the long run it helps all involved if the injury is timely reported to an employer and immediately turned into your employers worker's compensation carrier.
Worker's Compensation
Posted by: Judy Pippin
January 07, 2008
We are now officially in the year of 2008. It's a time of rejuvenation, a time to believe that anything can happen; maybe even a miracle. As I read through the news, I am drawn to stories about miracles. The recent work-related accident involving a window washer is one of the stories that I am repeatedly drawn to. Amazingly, this gentleman survived a 47 story fall from a Manhattan skyscraper when his scaffolding collapsed. Unfortunately, his brother and co-worker were killed in this horrific accident. I find myself marveling over the fact that these two brothers were simply doing their job when this terrible accident occurred. I am not sure how long they had been skyscraper window washers or what their training consisted of, but none of that matters for the purpose of receiving worker's compensation benefits.
If this accident had occurred in Indiana, the dependants of the brother who passed away would receive death benefits through workers' compensation. The miracle brother, who has now survived ten surgeries, would get all of his medical bills paid at 100% and benefits called Total Temporary Disability (TTD) for his wages while he is unable to work. His injuries included but were not limited to broken legs, a broken right arm and a shattered wrist, as well as severe injuries to his chest, abdomen and spinal column and bleeding in his brain. As you can imagine, everyone is ecstatic that he survived and is alive. At this point, I have not read very much regarding how long his projected treatment will be or how well he will be able to function once his treatment is complete. However, the injured worker is 37 years old and without a doubt it will affect him for the rest of his life. While I hope this guy can return to some type of employment in the future, it is something to be concerned with. Due to his extensive injuries, if his accident occurred in Indiana, I would keep an eye on a Permanent Total Disability (PTD) claim for this worker, which would allow for additional benefits under Indiana Law.
