Who better than the injured worker to know the pain that person is feeling? At this point in medical science, we do not have a “pain meter.” Doctors can examine a person, and obtain diagnostic testing, such as x-ray, MRI and CT scan, but, ultimately, doctors can only tell us…
Injured workers in Pennsylvania are entitled to payment of wage loss benefits, as well as payment for medical treatment related to the work injury. The term “medical treatment” in PA is defined broadly. It includes obvious items, such as an MRI or x-ray, medications, doctor visits and surgery, but it…
The Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act was last amended (at least in a significant way) by Act 147 in late 2006. As noted in a previous blog entry, these changes were very beneficial to the injured worker in PA. These amendments included the Uninsured Employers Guaranty Fund (to give PA injured…
In Pennsylvania workers’ compensation, we see all sorts of injuries. Everything from a torn rotator cuff in the shoulder, to an ACL tear in the knee, to an amputation of a finger or toe, to a herniated disc in the neck or back – and everything in between. One thing…
As we discussed in a previous blog entry, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania accepted review of the Cinram Manufacturing v. Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board (Hill) case. This case dealt with how one can change or amend a Notice of Compensation Payable (NCP) under the PA Workers’ Compensation Act. Yesterday, the…
Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS), also known as Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD), is a debilitating condition we see in Pennsylvania workers’ compensation all too often. This condition, whose sufferers experience tremendous, unrelenting, burning pain, has been known to develop from traumatic injury. Even when a work-related traumatic injury is not…
Since we limit our practice to representing injured workers’ in PA workers’ compensation cases, we see frequent situations when an injured worker is treated poorly by the workers’ comp insurance carrier. Sometimes, though, the situation seems way beyond common sense and logic. I am currently litigating one of those cases,…
Ordinarily, to suspend (or even modify) workers’ compensation benefits to an injured worker in PA, the workers’ compensation insurance carrier must show a change of medical condition and prove work is available within the injured worker’s physical capabilities [Benefits can be suspended for other reasons, but this is the most…
To obtain workers’ compensation benefits in PA, the worker must be injured while in the scope and course of his or her employment. Fortunately, PA law does not require that a worker be chained to his or her desk, or work area, the entire day. Pennsylvania law recognizes that “small…
**Update – Decision of the Commonwealth Court of PA REVERSED by Supreme Court of Pennsylvania on July 20, 2011 – See blog entry of August 2, 2011** When a worker gets hurt at work in PA, the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act requires that the employer be notified of the injury…