Author Archives: Jay Butchko
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 »
Three Situations When Workers’ Compensation Is Unavailable
In 2018, there were almost three million nonfatal workplace accidents in the United States. This figure does not include occupational diseases, such as breathing problems or hearing loss. Most states have mandatory insurance laws which require employers to carry workers’ compensation insurance. But as outlined below, many employers do not have a valid policy…. Read More »
Top Five Non-Injury Shoulder Pain Causes
Few conditions adversely affect daily life more than chronic shoulder pain. These conditions restrict everything from morning routines to sleeping well at night. Frequently, chronic shoulder pain is also frustrating. Many times, even doctors can do little more than speculate as to the cause. What is known is that non-injury shoulder pain is always… Read More »
Watch Out For These Common Employer Workers’ Comp Scams
Most companies care little or nothing about worker safety. However, most companies care a great deal about their bottom lines. So, workers’ compensation scams, which reduce the amount of money companies pay for this insurance, are rather common. They are rather effective too. Overall workers’ compensation benefits recently hit their lowest level since 1980…. Read More »
Breaking Down Louisiana’s Complex First Responder/Cancer Presumption
Emergency responders have a higher incidence of cancer than the general population. In fact, among some types of cancer, the risk is twice as high. Typically, cancer is a combination of an environmental and a genetic condition. Therefore, tracing it to one specific cause is not easy. Lawmakers in the Bayou State recently passed… Read More »
Benefits Available to Outdoor Benzodiazepine Exposure Victims
The combination of the heat from a gasoline engine and the residue of organic matter, like lawn clippings, creates benzodiazepine fumes. These fumes are one of the most toxic substances known to mankind. Prolonged exposure to benzodiazepine has been linked to a number of chronic, serious health problems, including cancer. Cancer survival rates have… Read More »
Common Workers’ Compensation Employer Scams
Insurance companies would like you to believe that worker fraud, such as faking an injury, is a serious problem which drives up costs. Yet the statistics suggest otherwise. It is hard to believe, but employer fraud costs about 3,000 times more than worker fraud. That’s because employer fraud, unlike worker fraud, is often very… Read More »