Author Archives: Jay Butchko
Five Common Emergency Responder Workers’ Compensation Claims
Now more than ever, emergency responders put their lives at risk every time they answer calls for help. In fact, police, firefighters, and other first responders have a much higher injury rate than other categories of workers. That includes workers in dangerous occupations, like fishing, construction, energy production, and mining. Because of some new… Read More »
Top Five Construction Site Injuries
Year after year, construction sites are at or near the top of those “most dangerous jobs” list. In fact, over a fifth of all workplace deaths occur at construction sites. Particularly in Mississippi, many construction workers have Limited English Proficiency. These individuals are experienced and hard-working, but through no fault of their own, their… Read More »
The Wage Replacement Benefit in a Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Claim
Employer workers’ compensation costs have fallen sharply in recent decades. Worker benefits have fallen sharply as well, to their lowest level since 1980. In other words, while wages have increased, mostly due to inflation, benefits have decreased, again mostly due to inflation. A workplace injury is financially crippling for most families. Typically, the victim’s… Read More »
Work-Related Spine Injuries: A Closer Look
A spine injury is arguably the most devastating workplace injury. The lifelong medical bills and related medical expenses, such as physical changes to a dwelling to accommodate a wheelchair, often approach $5 million. Additionally, many of these victims can no longer work, even if the paralysis is only partial. The bottom line is that… Read More »
Diagnosing and Treating Work-Related Head Injuries
At this very moment, over thirteen million people are living with the effects of a Traumatic Brain Injury. And, job injuries are one of the leading causes of TBIs. Jobsites combine all three major head injury causes. Trauma wounds include being struck by falling objects or debris. Falls often cause head injuries, because the… Read More »
A Closer Look at Job-Related Hearing Loss
Hearing loss is one of the most common occupational diseases. Roughly thirty million Americans have hearing loss in both ears. Prolonged exposure to noises as low as 85 decibels, which is basically a school cafeteria, could cause hearing loss. If treated properly and promptly, hearing loss is usually not too severe. But most of… Read More »
Does Workers’ Compensation Pay for Medical Bills in Louisiana?
The average injury-related emergency hospital admission costs about $100,000. Serious injuries, like severe burns and back injuries, could easily be ten times this high. Furthermore, this figure does not include many ancillary medical expenses. Transportation costs are a good example. If job injury victims must be airlifted to a nearby hospital, this brief ride… Read More »
Top Ten Shoulder Pain Causes
Work-related shoulder pain is one of the most common occupational diseases in Mississippi. Roughly half these patients report serious pain which lasts at least twelve months. Depending on the nature of the condition, treatment for shoulder pain varies widely, from exercises to repeated injections to reconstructive surgery. All these treatments have varying success levels…. Read More »
What to Expect in a Louisiana Workers’ Compensation Claim
For many years, the Grand Bargain between workers and management sped a fair amount of financial relief to injured workers. But now, the workers’ compensation system has become a labyrinthine process dominated by insurance company interests. Making matters worse, the system is woefully underfunded, mostly because of pro-business legislation which has reduced insurance premiums…. Read More »
Lousiana Emergency Responders, PTSD, and Workers’ Compensation
According to some research, about a third of emergency responders struggle with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. This means that these workers have a much higher incidence of PTSD than people in the general population. Almost all emergency responders experience symptoms like flashbacks and hypervigilance after they are directly exposed to trauma, witness a traumatic… Read More »