Columbus Workers' Compensation Law Blog

First lady Michelle Obama recently announced a new part of her "Joining Forces" campaign that will hope to better address a serious injury for those in Ohio and across the country. When an individual experiences a traumatic brain injury, they can be saddled with a lifetime of complications. With her recent announcement, the first lady hopes to prepare future physicians for the long-term challenges.

Traumatic brain injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder will both be included in courses at many medical schools across the nation. The two aforementioned conditions are signature injuries of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and Obama, along with officials from the Association of American Medical Colleges, will make sure that medical professionals are prepared.

There has been much talk lately about disabled workers and their struggles in getting back to work. Much of this talk ignores what some have called the "elephant in the room", the great recession, which has resulted in millions of lost jobs. This shortage of employment opportunity is pitting the able against the disabled in the race to find a new job. Clearly the disabled are at a disadvantage in this competition. This makes some to look at trying to change the Workers' Compensation system because of the stress placed upon it by this very competition. In a thriving economy, many more opportunities are available to return to the workforce once they are able to do so. Currently, one may stay in the system longer because those jobs are no longer as readily available.

As unemployment benefits run out for many Ohio residents, some of those workers are attempting to receive new benefits to supplement their income. Social Security disability is available to some of them because they are considered disabled. Others are attempting to apply for the government benefits despite their health.

Experts believe that some of these people are discouraged and simply need a source of income. With an average unemployment period of 10 months, it is no wonder that many are discouraged, but the program could be drained of funds for disabled citizens who really need it.

As one of the two major wars that the United States is involved in comes to a close, many troops are returning home to states like Ohio. One of the signature injuries sustained by troops during the wars in the Middle East is the traumatic brain injury, and many soldiers are suffering from the effects.

Some of those injuries are becoming worse as time goes on because they remain undetected, largely due to flaws in the diagnosis and treatment of soldiers who have been subjected to potential brain-injuring circumstances, such as the explosion of a roadside bomb.

Earlier this month, three workers in Woodville Township, Ohio, were injured after a rebar concrete form they were working on collapsed. The construction accident was serious enough that two of the workers required helicopter transportation to the University of Toledo Medical Center and Mercy St. Vincent Medical Center. The third injured worker was hospitalized with less serious injuries after being transported via ambulance.

According to the corporate safety director for the construction company, of the three individuals, they were all released later that day with minor injuries. All three of them had fallen approximately 24 feet because of the collapse. He said that the use of medical helicopters was a precaution because of the remote location of the facility.

Businesses in Columbus, Ohio should consider creating a safety culture rather than a safety program, according to one expert. This mentality allows the company and its employees to realize that most workplace injuries are preventable to some degree. Despite this fact, employers are still held responsible when an injury occurs on the job and this can result in workers' compensation payments being made to an injured employee.

For many companies, the major consideration is profit. This may come across as no surprise to most people, but consider what this mindset may cause an employer to think. It could allow them to believe that by working their employees to the bone, they are doing the right thing: maximizing profits. When a worker is tired or stressed in any way, it may cause them to become more susceptible to workplace injuries.

Work Loss Data Institute has released the Official Disability Guidelines (ODG) used by the Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation and many national groups. The bureau has instructed the MCOs in the BWC to use the ODG whenever they are analyzing the medical necessity of treatment requests. Unfortunately the way it is being used, is as a denial mechanism versus an analysis of the appropriateness of treatment. As a result, many treatment requests for Ohio workers compensation are going to hearing where the Industrial Commission reverses the denial of treatment because they are reviewing the preponderance of all the evidence before them.

Without effective representation most Ohio workers will have treatment denied using this erroneous analysis, and their cases would never be taken before the Ohio Industrial Commission. The ODG advises users that they are merely guidelines, not inflexible prescriptions and should never be used as the sole evidence for the absolute standard of care. Therefore, treating physicians, injured workers, and representatives must always pursue appropriate treatment based upon all of the circumstances behind the injured workers medical condition and injury.

People in Columbus, Ohio may remember the terrible coal mining accident that occurred in April 2010. It left 29 men dead and would have certainly led to a large amount of wrongful death lawsuits if a settlement had not been reached recently.

Alpha Natural Resources-the organization which purchased the company owning the mine after the explosion-agreed to pay $210 million. About $46.5 million of the settlement will be used to pay grieving families. It will also go towards the payment of fines for years of violations and will fund the many safety improvements that U.S. regulators believe are necessary at the mine where the explosion occurred. According to those regulators, nearly 370 different safety violations had been counted at the mine. Twelve of those had contributed to the explosion that killed the 29 miners.