Virginia Workers' Compensation Accident? Report it?

WHY YOU MUST REPORT EVERY ACCIDENT ON THE JOB IN VIRGINIA

As a workers' compensation lawyer, I have seen this scenario many times: a worker injured himself or herself at work, thinks nothing of it, and continues to work. Weeks later or maybe months later the problem gets worse and the injured worker tries to report an accident and it is denied. What is the problem?

1.  Many employers have a rule requiring immediate reporting of an accident.

2.  The Virginia Workers' Compensation Act requires reporting to an employer in 30 days.

3.  Sometimes, if an accident is initially considered trivial, the Commission may forgive the initial
     reporting requirement (but this is tough to prove).

4.  The Commission is seldom forgiving when it comes to a failure to report a back injury.

5.  If you wait a long time to report an accident and you wait a long time to go to a doctor, it can be
     very difficult for the doctor to connect the dots between the accident and the impairment.

Conclusion: report anything that might be considered an accident immediately to your employer. Do not delay in going to the doctor!

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: contact Jerry Lutkenhaus (804) 358-4766 or visit our website at
Virginia Workers Compensation Lawyer.

Virginia Workers' Compensation & Video Surveillance

IF YOU HAVE A WORK INJURY IN VIRGINIA, THEY WILL BE WATCHING YOU!

Recently, I have had a few cases in my Virginia Workers' Compensation practice that involved video surveillance. This typically occurs when an injured worker is out of work on compensation and the disability is due to "pain" rather than an obvious orthopedic impairment.

The insurer will employ a private investigator to follow the injured worker around hoping to catch the worker doing an activity or activities that are inconsistent with his alleged impairment. If the investigator is successful, the insurer's attorney will then play the video in front of the treating physician. This can cause the treating physician to declare the injured worker no longer disabled or cause the treating physician to lift any work restrictions. Then, the insurer's lawyer will file with the Virginia Workers' Compensation Commission to cut off the worker's compensation.

One problem for the worker's attorney is that one cannot obtain the insurer's video surveillance until after it has been provided to a third party such as the treating doctor.

Also, the Commission has ruled in the past the worker's attorney cannot obtain the video prior to the worker's deposition. Thus, the insurer's lawyer can pin down the worker to answers that may be inconsistent with the surveillance video.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: contact Jerry Lutkenhaus at (804) 358-4766 or (800) 256-8862. Also, check our website at Virginia Workers' Compensation Lawyer.

Virginia Workers's Compensation Covers Mileage for the Injured Worker

The Virginia Workers's Compensation Act provides for mileage coverage for the injured worker. Once a claim is accepted and an award is entered for the worker the worker is awarded lifetime medical coverage for that specific accident. This includes any mileage the injured worker has to incur to go to doctors, hospitals, therapists, vocational counselors, etc. The reimbursement rate is 55.5 cents a mile.

There are some caveats: (1) many insurers will not tell injured workers the reimbursement is available; (2) the reimbursement does not cover trips to the pharmacy to pick up prescriptions; (3) the reimbursement does cover mandatory trips one has to make as part of vocational rehabilitation; and (4) the trips must be the shortest distance from home to the health care provider as determined by Mapquest or some other measuring tool.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: check my website at  Virginia Workers' Compensation Lawyer. Call Jerry Lutkenhaus at (804) 358-5766 or (800) 256-8862.

Virginia Workers Compensation & the Treating Physician Rule

VIRGINIA TREATING DOCTOR RULE

I recently had a case in which the treating orthopedist recommended bilateral knee replacements due to her work place accident.The insurer in this Virginia Workers Compensation case disputed the recommendation. The insurer obtained two defense medical examinations that said the knee replacements could be necessary but they were not do to the "accident" the claimant had suffered but rather the replacements were necessitated by arthritis.

In the initial hearing before the deputy commissioner we lost. However, we appealed to the the Full Commission (three Commissioners who handle appeals from deputy commissioner decisions). Citing Virginia's "treating physician rule" the three Commissioners reversed the deputy commissioner and ordered the operation. Commissioner Williams for the Full Commission said the treating doctor's opinion based on three years of treatment out-weighed the two defense medical examinations.

The insurer then appealed to the Virginia Court of Appeals but that court in August 2014 dismissed the appeal.

For more information check my website at Virginia Workers' Compensation Lawyer contact me (804) 358-4766 or (800) 256-8862.

Veterans Get Break on Social Security Disability Claims in Virginia

VETERANS AND PTSD

Recently, I represented four veterans who had PTSD and other injuries as a result of their service for this country in Iraq and Afghanistan. They were trying to get Social Security Disability. All of them had been awarded 100% unemployability ratings by the VA. The ratings were based on their PTSD and other conditions.

They had filed Social Security Disability claims for their conditions to get support for themselves and their children. Unfortunately, their claims were initially denied so they came to me for representation.

First, I was able to get them expedited Social Security Disability hearings before administrative law judges since they had claimed disability due to active military service after October 1, 2001.

Second, in Virginia and in the Fourth Circuit (which covers Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, and South Carolina) there had been a favorable ruling by the United States Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. In a case in 2012, the Fourth Circuit said VA disability determinations "must be accorded substantial weight in Social Security disability proceedings." Bird v. Commissioner of Social Sec. Admin, 699 F.3d 337. 245 (4th. Cir. 20120). The Fourth Circuit said both SSA and the VA focus on the functional limitations to determine whether the veteran can work so it makes sense to give VA determination substantial weight.

In conclusion, the VA 100% unemployability ratings were extremely helpful in obtaining Social Security Disability for these vets! I was successful with all four claims.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: contact Jerry Lutkenhaus at (804) 358-4766 or (800) 256-8862 or visit our website at Virginia Workers' Compensation Lawyer .

Defense Medical Examinations in Virginia

THE DEFENSE MEDICAL EXAM

In Virginia, the Virginia Workers' Compensation Act allows a defense medical examination of the injured worker. By case law the defense insurance company can ask the injured worker to undergo this type of exam once a year. In addition, the defense insurance company can ask for multiple exams as long as the doctors have different specialties.

The Virginia statute that allows this type of exam calls the examiner an "independent" medical examiner. However, there is nothing "independent" about this examiner. He or she is carefully chosen by the insurance company so that an opinion negative to the claimant will be forthcoming. The insurer can provide the medical examiner the claiamant's entire medical history so the report will appear to be very comprehensive.

Typically, the emphasis will be on objective tests such as X-rays and MRI's and all subjective complaints will be discounted.

In summary, if your claimant is subjected to an "independent" medical examination (IME)be aware that in most cases there will be a result very adverse to the claimant. The only protection the claimant has in most cases is the "treating physician" rule. This basically means usually if things are equal the treating physician will trump the IME.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: contact Jerry Lutkenhaus at (804) 358-4766  or (800) 256-8862 or review Virginia Workers' Compensation Lawyer .

Virginia Increases Workers Compensation Penalty for Uninsured Employers

On July 1, 2014 Virginia increased the maximum penalty for employers in Virginia who did not have      
workers compensation to $50,000.00. Prior to this increase, the maximum penalty was only $5,000.00. With such a low penalty, some employers may have thought it was worth the risk not to obtain insurance. That way if you were caught you only had to pay at most $5,000.00. With this increase, perhaps more employers will not risk going "naked" in Virginia without workers compensation insurance. Thus it is hoped workers will have more security in Virginia.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: contact Jerry Lutkenhaus at (804) 358-4766 or check our website at
Virginia Workers' Compensation Lawyer .