A twenty-seven-year-old man suffered a severely herniated disc in his lower back in a work-related accident. When his employer’s workers’ compensation insurance company refused to pay for the medical treatment he needed, he hired Attorney Chuck Pappas.
Attorney Pappas took immediate action and filed an Employee’s Claim for Benefits. Attorney Pappas was successful in forcing the insurance company to pay this injured worker the workers’ compensation benefits he deserved. Then Attorney Pappas was able to secure a very favorable lump sum settlement for this client.
About the Accident, Injury & Treatment
This young man was working as a lineman installing cable lines. On a cold February day, this worker suffered a serious lower back injury when he was pulling a co-axial cable while he was up in a bucket truck. He felt excruciating pain in his lower back and was brought to the emergency room right away. After being treated at the emergency room, he was advised to follow up with an orthopedic spine specialist.
The orthopedic doctor was suspicious of a disc injury and ordered an MRI of this worker’s lumbar spine. The MRI revealed a herniated disc. After several epidural steroid injections and several rounds of physical therapy, this worker did not make any progress in relieving his painful symptoms. At that point in his treatment, his orthopedic surgeon recommended a back operation. The specific procedure was a L5-S1 laminectomy. A laminectomy is a surgical procedure that removes the back portion of a vertebra in the spine. This procedure creates space to help relieve pressure on the nerves. This injured worker agreed to the operation, which was performed approximately seven (7) months after his work accident.
After his back operation, he continued with physical therapy. This worker continued to suffer discomfort in his lower back. His surgeon then recommended a nerve block injection. This injection helped relieve some of the painful symptoms enabling the client to continue with physical therapy. He ultimately recovered from his injury, but did have some remaining symptoms.
How Attorney Pappas Helped this Injured Worker
Shortly after the worker’s back surgery, he completed a couple courses of physical therapy. He continued to suffer from debilitating pain. As mentioned above, the injured employee’s surgeon recommended the nerve block shot while he was in physical therapy. The only problem was that the workers’ compensation insurance company refused to authorize and pay for the nerve block shot or any additional physical therapy. That’s when Attorney Pappas took action.
An Employee’s Claim for Benefits was filed in the Department of Industrial Accidents (DIA) in Lawrence, MA. This claim sought a Court order from the DIA for the workers’ compensation insurance company to pay for the medical treatment the surgeon recommended. After litigating this matter, the workers’ compensation insurance company eventually agreed to pay for the nerve block shot and additional physical therapy.
While this injured worker was attending physical therapy, Attorney Pappas began negotiating for a lump sum settlement of this claim. During settlement discussions, the insurance company relied on the fact that the injured worker’s doctor released him to modified work with restrictions. Despite this and after thorough negotiations, Attorney Pappas was able to secure and finalize a lump sum settlement of over $106,359.69 for his client. This represented just about all the remaining future disability benefits related to this worker’s injury on the job.
In the end, this client was very satisfied with the results he obtained. Although this workers’ compensation claim was settled, Attorney Pappas continues to assist this client negotiate and fight for additional medical treatment. This is because liability was established in this workers’ compensation claim. This means that even though the case has settled, the medical benefits continue to be available for related, reasonable and necessary medical treatment.
Have you Been Hurt on the Job in Massachusetts?
If you, or someone you know, has been injured on the job in Massachusetts, you should know your rights and be sure you are getting the benefits you deserve. To schedule your free, no-obligation case review and evaluation please call us at (508) 879-3500 or contact us online. We are more than happy to meet with you and answer all of your questions.
