Surbhi Saraswat Goyal
Making a Difference for Worker's Comp Respondents, Others
April 2020
Making a Difference for Worker's Comp Respondents, Others
Precision in Litigation Cuts Large MSA by Almost Half
May 2019
The claimant, a certified nursing assistant, injured her right hand when a patient grabbed it, squeezing and twisting.
Her treating physician found no significant bone or muscle injury, but nevertheless diagnosed complex regional pain syndrome of the right upper extremity. Within eleven months of the accident, a spinal cord stimulator was implanted to control claimant’s right hand and arm pain.
Over a year later, the claimant first complained of left hand and thorax pain. The claimant’s physician diagnosed complex regional pain syndrome “spreading to the left upper extremity.” The employer’s examining expert disagreed, noting not only the time delay in reporting left side symptoms, but also that the claimant’s left-sided symptoms were not consistent with chronic regional pain syndrome. There was also an issue as to the level of work the claimant could perform on a permanent basis.
Must Petitioner Take a Transitional Job?
May 2019
By: Francis M. Brady
“The Act is meant to compensate a claimant for economic disabilities that diminishes his value in the labor market…” And of course “(it’s) remedial in nature.”
These statements and pronouncements of their ilk are familiar to Illinois employers and representatives. Made by the Commission or Courts, they instinctively lead to the sinking realization that: “We’ve lost another one.”
Limiting The Impact of Opioids
April 2019
By: Francis M. Brady
Outside of “medical marijuana,” the term most often heard recently regarding healthcare in Illinois, and by extension, workers’ compensation practice, is “opioid crisis.” Unlike the alarm over marijuana, where there is no actual experience underlying the sense of foreboding, concerns over opioid usage are founded upon hard data.1
Per the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH), opioids are “a class of drugs that include heroin; common prescription pain relievers such as oxycodone and hydrocodone (Vicodin, Percocet, Oxycontin); and, synthetically manufactured analogs such as Fentanyl.” The IDPH warns that “…physical tolerance to opioids can develop in as few as 2-3 days of continuous use...opioids affect respiratory regulation of the brain and an overdose can cause someone to stop breathing…”