Have a question regarding workmens comp - Disabilities Message Board

Lady50 · 03-23-2005, 08:09 AM

My husband had a blowout in a truck that he was driving for the company. It was no fault of his own because the front tire blew out and became uncontrollable so it went in the ditch.

He was on w/c for two months. There was an injury to his hand. They took xrays and couldn't find the problem. Finally after a long time they took a bone scan and where his injury is it shows total black color. The doctor said it was arthritis that developed from the injury.

The doctor released him back to work and said if it starts hurting to come back and he will give him a cortizone shot. Also, he said in 5-10 years he may need to have a stint put in.

He is now back to work and if he uses his hand too much, it swells up.

I don't know it just doesn't seem right. Seems like he should get some kind of settlement out of this. He does like his job though.

I am just wondering if they might of made a misdiagnosis on this. It just doesn't seem right somehow.

purplerain212 · 03-31-2005, 07:00 AM

Hi Lady, I too broke my ankle at work. Immediatly I was back to work under 'Light duty" After my Dr. released me back to full duty, about 5-6 months after break, that is typically when you'll get a letter to go see a workers comp Dr. That Dr. will give your husband a % of loss (if he has one) of his hand, range of motion mostly, then a few weeks around that time you'll recieve papers to attend a workers comp hearing. At that time the judge will give you a settlement that is on some sort of schedule for hand loss. For my foot I had a 10% loss and ended up with only $5,000. I've heard many people retain lawyers and such, but they are only going to give you the amount the hand and loss of equals. The whole process from break to getting the check was less than 15 months or so. Hope that helps some!, Stephanie

girl75 · 03-31-2005, 01:55 PM

hello lady50, i know that here in texas if you get hurt on the job when you go to a doc you file a work comp claim. i worked a chiropractor for a long time and we would do it for the patient. you send it in and you will be assigned to an adjustor. do you have a family doc who takes w/c? if so he/she should have the paperwork to be filled out. he should be able to refer you where you can go for treatment for his hand and whatever else he needs. also if he ends up needing any kind of pt it will be covered. depending how long he takes to get better is when he will reach the end and thats when an impairement rating will be scheduled to see the percentage and maximum medical improvement. this will determine the whole money factor just like the last postee said.
if his employer and w/c insurance are cooperative then you really should't need an atty, but if they start giving yall a hard time about what he needs and making him do stuff that hurts him then i would try a find a good one.
even if you don't want to mess with everything you can get an atty and they should handle everything for yall and give you any advice.
if your husbands hand is still hurting and is willing to go and get it looked at make sure that it is added to his w/c chart if he goes in.
i know that when i got hurt on the job (at the chiro. can you believe it) i was taken off work by my treating physician and went through pt, treatments, adjustments and lots of other things. i ended up with a 12 percent impairement rating and was given 7,000 for that.
i hope this kind of helps. if you have any questions about the w/c rules in your state maybe you can call an atty and ask for some advice.

robin

cookie51 · 04-03-2005, 08:21 PM

Hi,
Just reading these post about w/c settlements, and they seem so low. My brother-in-law had a rotor cuff tear and he got like $22,000. He did have the surgery, but still I would think an ankle would have been at least that amount.
have a good night
cookie

Lady50 · 04-06-2005, 10:40 AM

Sorry getting back so late for reply. I really thank you for the advice.

I believe he said that he has 80% usage of one hand and 60% of the other. This will be affecting his working ability farther on down the road.

The workmans comp. doc said he will have to have a stent put in within 5 years. Now who is gonna pay for that by golly?

The workmans comp. doctor(a hand surgeon) said that if it starts hurting worse to go in and he will give him a hydrocortizone shot. Here we go again who is paying for that? He is not on workmans comp now. We live in Missouri.
My hubby will just have to ask them some questions about it I guess.

Thanks for your help