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Injury Attorney Blog

Our Illinois Workers Comp Lawyer Answers More Questions About Work-Related Injuries

Question: ” I am currently receiving workmans comp. My attorney advised me to check into filing a retalitory discharge. I am having a very difficult time finding a lawyer for this type of case. I really don’t know where to look. I don’t have money to put down as a retainer, due to the lack of finances related to losing my job. I hurt my back at work 6/05 and was placed on light duty w/o X-Rays or anything.

I called off for 1 wk and was terminated because of the call-offs. I am still receiving TX and possibly may need surgery. I have been told I will not ever be able to work as a nurse on the floor again. What do I do? Where do I go? Who should I seek out? Can you help?”

Chicago Personal Injury Attorney: “A retaliatory discharge claim is rarely filed because they are difficult to prove under the current law and it’s difficult for the attorney to be paid for his time. On the other hand, they can be worthwhile cases if the facts are right.

If you can demonstrate the following 1) a good work history; 2) they fired you because you filed a wc claim; 3) you could have returned to your job, then you could have a viable claim. Your Illinois workers comp lawyer is in the best position to file such a claim and if you have a claim you should pressure him to do so. Isn’t that why he is representing you? If you have a viable claim, he should file it.”

Do you have questions about your workers comp case in Illinois? Personal injury lawyers can help. Contact a Chicago personal injury attorney who specializes in workers comp cases today.

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Workers Compensation laws in Illinois are very confusing. Chicago personal injury attorneys who specialize in workers comp cases are often asked similar questions about specific cases. In an effort to assist others by sharing information, our Illinois personal injury lawyer offers advice on this special “Ask the attorney” feature.

Question: “I am no longer able to perform my normal job as a result of my injury at work. I can’t earn what I used to earn because I can’t do my normal job. Can I get re-trained so I can earn what I used to earn before my accident? What about wage loss benefits if I don’t get retrained? Should I just find a job and earn whatever I can?”

Chicago personal injury attorney: “After a work-related injury that’s serious enough to end a career, the injured person often has a hard time adjusting to the change in work life. Caught up in the bad luck of it all, disabling pain, the Worker’s Compensation system, or confused as what to do with the rest of their life, many will simply opt for whatever kind of job they can do in a different field for lower pay and make ends meet with weekly wage differential. The laws of Illinois certainly allow for such a choice.

Questions to ask yourself: ‘Do you simply want a new job within your physical abilities following the disabling on the job injury? Do you want the opportunity to embark upon a new career following your recovery from the injury? Do you want to be retrained received additional education with the goal in mind of earning what you earned before you were injured? Would you rather skip the training or education and just earn what you are able to earn and receive a weekly wage differential, thinking you’ll be winning by making the insurance company pay?’ The choice is yours. Not receiving additional education and/or training may prove to be a missed opportunity. Only you can decide what’s best for you.

Keep in mind that not all injuries are conducive to returning to school. If you have a career-ending injury, the choice of a good vocational rehabilitation plan and the possibility of education or training is always worthy of consideration. Life at a low-paying job, even with wage differential from the insurance company, is for some, hardly worth calling “living”.

For more information on Illinois Workers Compensation laws, contact an Illinois personal injury attorney who specializes in workers comp cases immediately. You will need assistance navigating the system in order to achieve the maximum compensation allowed by law.

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When injured, one may face seemingly insurmountable costs. Medical bills, lost wages, the cost of pain and suffering - it can seem overwhelming.

What if you need representation by a Chicago personal injury attorney? Many people worry they cannot afford to hire an Illinois personal injury lawyer. The truth is, most often, they cannot afford to go it alone.

A qualified Chicago personal injury lawyer will advocate on behalf of the injured, who have enough to deal with as it is. In most cases, a reputable firm will offer a contingent fee arrangement, which requires no up-front fees. In the case of a contingent agreement, an Illinois personal injury law firm will advance all costs associated with the case, and see it through until conclusion.

There will not be a fee unless recovery is made.

If a firm offers this type of arrangement, you can trust they believe in the merits of your case, and fully plan to achieve the fullest compensation according to the law, no matter the difficulty or costs (financial or otherwise) involved. A dedicated Chicago personal injury attorney will be your best ally in the case of injury, and will have just one goal: to help you find justice.

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When selecting an attorney, keep in mind that many Chicago personal injury law firms (large and small) are eager to quickly settle cases out of court for reduced compensation. This is often not in the best interest of the injured party.

Recovering compensation for medical expenses, lost wages, short or long term disability or even permanent disability can be extremely difficult without the assistance of a dedicated Illinois personal injury lawyer. Too often it is because of this difficulty that the injured parties are forced into unfair or low settlement agreements.

A knowledgeable and respected Chicago personal injury lawyer will accept a case for representation based on the merit and integrity of the case - not the ease of its prosecution. You should expect your Illinois personal injury attorney to aggressively prosecute your case to the fullest extent of the law.

The opportunity may present itself for a negotiated settlement out of court. If an opponent agrees to fully satisfy the needs of the injured party, this may be an appropriate solution. Nevertheless, your Chicago personal injury attorney should prepare an aggressive trial on your behalf, up until a just settlement is agreed upon.

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Any serious injury can have a dramatic impact on an individual’s work, family and lifestyle. Simply managing a painful recovery or learning to live with a life-changing permanent condition can be devastating. So how can one be expected to advocate for themselves when facing a corporate giant, a callous employer, or a shady insurance company?

In Chicago, personal injury attorneys advocate on behalf of the injured with one goal in mind: full compensation under the law.

If you’ve been injured and need a lawyer, how can you know what to look for and whom to trust? What should you do first?

The most important factor in any personal injury case an individual’s ability to obtain early consultation with an Illinois personal injury lawyer qualified to prosecute (if necessary) a trial on your behalf within a committed firm that possesses both the support teams and financial resources to see your case through to a just and successful conclusion.

Defense attorneys and insurance companies typically have endless resources to pay for years of delays and will often manipulate your words, actions, the facts of your case and the extent of your injuries. You need an aggressive Chicago personal injury attorney by your side as soon as possible, to fight for justice.

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Parents considering anti-depressant medication for their teens should take caution. Studies have shown a significant increase in teenage suicide linked to these drugs. Our Chicago personal injury attorney says the makers of Paxil (an extremely popular anti-depressant medication) recently sent a letter to doctors warning the drug caused a “six-fold increase in the risk of suicidal behavior in young adults.”

The drug maker GlaxoSmithKline conducted its own study of over 14,000 patients which showed a higher frequency of suicidal behavior in young adults (ages 18-24) treated with paroxetine (Paxil and Paxil CR) compared with placebo.  In addition,  The FDA issued a Public Health Advisory on March 22, 2004, cautioning physicians, their patients, and families about the need to closely monitor all patients being treated with antidepressants. The agency mandated heightened warnings on the labels of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), the class of antidepressant medications that includes Paxil as well as Prozac and Zoloft.  The Agency later issued another Advisory warning of an increased risk for suicidal behavior in adult patients as well (Source: www.FDA.gov).

GlaxoSmithKline (which is, by the way, the world’s second largest pharmaceutical company) agreed to pay $65 million dollars to settle a class-action lawsuit over its antidepressant drug Paxil. While Illinois personal injury lawyers explain this particular lawsuit didn’t involve the safety or effectiveness of Paxil, many believe it is just one more example of corporate greed at the expense of consumers.

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For the past two weeks, our Chicago personal injury attorney has been discussing defective products cases, especially in relation to the pharmaceutical industry. Yet another questionable product causing dangerous injury is the Kugel Hernia Patch.

A ventral hernia occurs around incisions from previous surgeries, where scar tissue becomes thinned or stretched. For patients who require a ventral hernia repair, the “hernia patch” was developed to be placed on the inside lining of the torn or separated abdominal wall (thus patching the injury from the inside rather than out). This has been a popular choice of treatment for many years.

The tragedy is that some patches commonly used by surgeons have proven defective, causing potentially severe and life-threatening injury. Most recently, Davol, Inc., a subsidiary of C. R. Bard, Inc. (who is a medical device manufacturing giant), expanded an earlier 2005 Class I recall to include specific batches of large and extra large mesh patches under the brand names Bard®, Composix®, and Kugel® manufactured between January 1, 2004 through September 30, 2005.

These patches are surrounded by a recoiling “memory” ring, which is surgically implanted by a procedure that involves folding the ring and inserting it through the torn or stretched tissue. This is most commonly done during a laparoscopic procedure. Once in place, the ring is released and springs to its full size, securing the mesh patch like a shield over the affected area.

Illinois personal injury lawyers say complaints of broken rings began to surface, both during the implant procedure itself, as well as post-operatively. When broken, the ring can puncture the abdominal wall, or migrate, causing serious and potentially life-threatening complications, such as bowel perforations and blockages of other gastro-intestinal organs.

“In addition to the defective ring itself, the manufacturer is alleged to have provided inadequate training to physicians regarding ‘folding’ procedures prior to insertion, and in some cases, no training at all, which may have contributed to the number of broken rings overall,” says one Chicago personal injury attorney.

Patients who have undergone surgical repair a ventral hernia with a mesh patch and develop unexplained abdominal pain, fever or tenderness at the surgical site should seek immediate medical attention, then contact an Illinois personal injury lawyer as soon as possible.

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It’s been said that Duragesic pain patches are killing more than just the pain.  Duragesic is the trade name of a “fentanyl transdermal therapeutic system”. This pain relieving patch delivers powerful drugs (fentanyl) through the skin over several days.  Up to one hundred times more potent than morphine, this medication is responsible for hundreds of deaths. In Illinois, personal injury lawyers have represented numerous cases of severe injury and death related to Duragesic patches.

Designed to release fentanyl slowly through the skin, one patch may provide 72 hours of pain relief. Unfortunately, say Chicago personal injury attorneys, a design flaw has caused some patches to leak fentanyl into the body much faster than the body can absorb it, causing deadly side-effects.  The FDA recently launched an investigation of over 120 deaths assoicated with the patch.

Fentanyl is an opioid pain medication, typically used to treat severe intractable pain (such as that from cancer). However, doctors have become far more likely to prescribe it for less serious afflictions such as migraines, surgical pain and back pain. The increase in usage has certainly contributed to an increase in serious incident, Chicago personal injury attorneys say. Though you may not have heard much about it on the news lately, patients continue to suffer frightening and potentially deadly side effects from overdose of this powerful and highly addictive narcotic.

If you or a loved one have been injured or experienced severe side effects due to a Duragesic pain-relieving patch, please contact an experienced Illinois personal injury lawyer immediately.

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Boston Scientific and Johnson & Johnson ‘Coated Stents’: Have Been Found To Do More Harm Than Good In Some Cases

Chicago personal injury attorneys who focus on defective products and negligence cases are constantly trying to educate consumers on the dangers many drugs and medical devices on the market today.  Drug-eluding stents have been implanted in millions of patients around the country, and recently published reports of studies by the New England Journal of Medicine have shown that they are associated with an increased rate of death, as compared with bare-metal stents. (March 8, 2007).

“Stents” are tiny pieces of wire used to prevent heart attacks by keeping arteries open. Drug-eluting stents contain medications that potentially reduce the chance the arteries will become blocked again. The downfall is that they create a place where potentially deadly blood clots can form and cause heart attacks.

Even worse, Illinois personal injury lawyers say, The American College of Cardiology has announced that implanting drug-coated stents in addition to traditional drug therapy alone provides no lasting benefit. So why the increase in use?

Stents generate nearly $5 billion a year in U.S. sales for Boston Scientific and Johnson & Johnson, the two companies that currently dominate the market. Both corporations admit the increased risk of blood clots but claim the benefits still outweigh these risks.

According to the New York Times, the Taxus stent from Boston Scientific, which was first used in 2004, achieved more sales in its first year than any health care product in history. However, The FDA issued a Class I Recall on the Taxus Express in July of 2004, because “characteristics in its design resulted in failure of the balloon to deflate and impeded removal of the balloon after stent placement,” which lead to significant patient complications, including emergency coronary artery bypass graft surgery and death.

Chicago personal injury attorneys explain Class I recalls (according to the FDA) are the most serious type of recall and involve situations where there is a reasonable probability that use of the product will cause serious injury or death.

If you or someone you love has had a drug-eluding stent implanted, please contact a Chicago personal injury attorney immediately.

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Aranesp, Epogen, and Procrit are in a class of drugs called erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs). These drugs are mostly used to treat anemia in patients with chronic kidney failure and in patients with cancer whose anemia is caused by chemotherapy. But Chicago personal injury attorneys are trying to get the word out about recent studies that prove a high risk of serious and life-threatening side effects and an increasing number of deaths in patients treated with these drugs.

“Federal regulators have announced new warnings for anemia drugs following evidence that they can cause blood clots, worsen cancer, and increase the risk of death in some patients,” says our Illinois personal injury lawyer. FDA officials say Aranesp, Epogen, and Procrit must now carry “black-box” warnings (which are the most serious kind) on their labels to warn about consumers about the newly identified risks. These risks include: “Increased Mortality, Serious Cardiovascular and Thromboembolic Events”. The agency is currently re-evaluating the safe use of this drug class.

Anemia drugs such as these are the fifth-leading class of prescription pharmaceuticals sold in the US. Even though they are extremely expensive and only available by injection, they are overtly advertised directly to consumers. Some Illinois personal injury lawyers say these advertisements have contributed to over-prescribing by doctors, for uses which are often not FDA-approved.

If you or someone you love were prescribed Aranesp, Epogen or Procrit, you should contact a Chicago personal injury attorney immediately.

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