The most common type of Petition we file is a Claim Petition. When an insurance company denies the case of an injured worker, for whatever reason, a Claim Petition needs to be filed. An injured worker has the burden of proof to establish all of the elements necessary to support an award of benefits, including: the happening of a work accident, while in the course and scope of employment, resulting in an injury that may cause a disability. The injured worker also must timely notify a supervisor of the accident and injury. Most of the time, the dispute will be whether the injured worker is disabled from employment, and the opinions of the medical doctors involved in the case become the focus.
In this case, the injured worker was a teacher in an art class at a local school. The injured worker sustained a wrist injury, but kept working and did not experience a wage loss. The injured worker retained Philadelphia workers’ compensation lawyer Jonathan B. Koutcher of Pearson Koutcher Law so that her wrist injury would hopefully be found work related allowing the injured worker to undergo the required surgical procedure. The Judge presiding over the case believed the opinions of the injured worker’s hand surgeon more than the opinions of the physician who performed the independent medical examination for the insurance carrier. As a result, the injured worker’s wrist injury was deemed work related and most importantly, the injured worker can now receive the surgery recommended by her treating surgeon. While the injured worker recovers from surgery and is unable to work, she will be able to receive wage loss benefits. Rather than stopping work to undergo surgery before her claim was accepted as work related, the injured worker elected to wait until her claim was granted by the Judge so that when she did ultimately have the surgery, wage loss benefits would automatically be reinstated.
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