Join Us for the 9th Annual Run, Walk and Roll for Rehab—and Help People Reclaim Their Lives!
Oxner + Permar believes in taking care of injured workers and their families—and our support reaches far beyond the courtroom. One way we help those injured on the job is to sponsor community support services like those offered to adults and children whose lives have been altered by serious injury or disease. Oxner + Permar is a proud “Gold Level” supporter of Vidant Health Rehabilitation Service’s Rehab Road Race. The Run, Walk and Roll for Rehab 5K and 1 Mile Fun Run/Walk will be held on September 24, 2016, and we hope you’ll join us for this fun and touching event.
In addition to raising critical funds, this Run, Walk and Roll for Rehab promotes outdoor recreation for people of all levels of physical abilities with a course that accommodates racing wheelchairs, sport chairs and hand-crank bicycles. The net proceeds benefit important programs and services for patients. For example, donations from previous races have been used to further expand Vidant’s specialty equipment that helps improve muscle strength and balance, and promotes independence in daily living. Such equipment and services enables Vidant to fulfill their mission of helping people reclaim their lives.
The team at Oxner + Permar is passionate about helping injured workers make a recovery after an injury. Please consider sponsoring and/or registering for the Run, Walk and Roll event. Support from community members and sponsors is essential. Contact Kathy Garren, Chair of Rehab Road Race Committee, at 252-847-0207 for additional information.
Together, we can make an incredible difference in the lives of countless patients and families who depend on Vidant Health Rehabilitation Services. Hope to see you on the course in September!
Join the team at Oxner + Permar in making a difference in the lives of injured workers. Register for the Run, Walk and Roll event in September for a fun way to make a big impact!
Unfortunately, insurance companies nowadays often intimidate injured workers by reminding them that they—not you—have the “right to direct medical care.” In other words, your employer and the health insurance company on their plan have the power to decide which physician you should see.
To some extent, this is true, but there are exceptions. Keep in mind that in some circumstances employees can select the physician of his or her choice. You just need the right attorney to help you navigate the workers’ compensation process and understand what those exceptions are. If you’ve been injured on the job and need to see a physician, here are a few key points to consider:
Your insurance company is not your physician. Don’t empower them; empower yourself and your doctor. After all, you know best about your injury, and your doctor knows how to help you get better. He or she is the one who went to medical school, received the proper training, and understands the practice of medicine. Not your insurance company.
You have a right to the best medical care. If your doctor believes certain treatment is appropriate for you and the workman’s comp insurance company is refusing to pay, you and your doctor need to fight for the proper course of treatment.
Team up with your doctor to fight for your rights. Have your doctor detail in writing why he or she feels you need a particular treatment. Your attorney can then use this documentation to file a motion with the Industrial Commission, seeking approval for the recommended care.
Don’t allow yourself or your physician to get frustrated and give up. If the care you need is not being authorized or is being denied by an internal utilization review conducted in-house at the insurance company, keep fighting. Your health is worth the fight!
Oxner + Permar has won case after case in which it seemed that the employee was going to be bullied by the insurance company. We don’t let that happen. In workers’ compensation cases, we care about the employee who has been hurt on the job, and we know how to make sure that their rights are protected. And insurance companies know our reputation—as attorneys who don’t give up until they get the care that they deserve.
Dealing with a separation is always difficult. As you are trying to sort out the emotional strain, the financial burden might be the last thing you want to think about. Alimony payments can help alleviate the financial stress of a separation, but are you aware of the things that could cause alimony payments to cease? It’s important to make sure you are in the know.
There are two major factors that cause the termination of alimony payment:
1. The death of either the supporting or dependent spouse.
2. The remarriage or cohabitation of the dependent spouse.
These terms seem pretty straightforward—death and remarriage are both easily defined, but what about cohabitation? At what point does a couple’s relationship fall under the definition of cohabitation?
In order to prove that a couple is cohabitating, there must be evidence that they are living together continuously and habitually. They must also take on the lifestyle of a married couple: e.g. sharing duties and obligations that would be expected of married couple. This can include a sexual relationship, but that is not always necessary.
It’s also important to note that a couple’s intent isn’t the deciding factor in whether or not a couple is determined to be cohabitating. A couple can claim that they’re not cohabitating, but if their relationship and lifestyle clearly falls under the umbrella of cohabitation, then they are cohabiting in the eyes of the law. However, if a couple’s cohabitation status is difficult to determine based purely on objective factors, then a couple’s intent will be considered.
Of course the court will base their ruling on fact-driven analysis, weighing several factors to determine a couple’s cohabitation status. Some of these factors are fairly obvious and things you might have considered such as length of time they’ve stayed at the partner’s residence; whether or not the dependent spouse has another residence that they maintain or continue to use; or whether they participate in their partner’s childcare routine (e.g. picking up kids from school).
If you are living with someone and are concerned that cohabitation can affect your alimony payments, here are a few factors to consider:
Whether or not you drive each other’s vehicles.
Whether or not you or your partner moved in furniture.
Whether or not you cook meals together.
Whether or not you answer the home phone at the residence.
Whether or not you attend church together.
Whether or not you drive around town together.
Whether others have observed you and your partner showing any display of love and affection.
These are only a handful of the factors used to determine cohabitation. If you have any questions about cohabitation or what factors could lead to the termination of alimony payments, be sure to contact an attorney.
If you or your ex-spouse receives alimony payments and is in a new relationship, be aware that cohabitation can cause termination of alimony payments. It’s important to know what situations can lead to the termination of alimony.
We all hope that pharmaceutical drug companies have our best interest at heart. We put our trust in them and trust that they are looking out for our health and our wellbeing. Though the unfortunate truth is that sometimes profits are put before patients and drugs that aren’t properly tested make it onto the market, often to disastrous results. One such unsafe drug that appeared recently was a blood thinner produced by Bayer called Xarelto.
When Xarelto appeared on the market it was fast selling, making $567 million in the first quarter alone. In 2015, the drug earned $2 billion worth of revenue. With earnings like that, it’s easy to see why Bayer was so keen to get this drug into pharmacies across the nation. However, the drug had deadly side effects, the worst of which was uncontrollable bleeding.
As one might imagine, this led to more than 4,500 lawsuits being filed against Xarelto’s makers for grievances ranging from financial hardships caused by hospital bills and extended medical care to funeral costs and wrongful deaths.
It can be challenging for a single person to stand up to a major pharmaceutical company such as this, which is why it’s useful to utilize Multidistrict Litigation (MDL)—when a number of cases are brought before a single judge who has a specialized knowledge relevant to the cases. This is exactly the route being taken by those looking to bring litigation against the makers of Xarelto. The cases will be brought before Judge Eldon Fallon in the Eastern District of Louisiana.
The first trials of a MDL are referred to as the “Bellweather Trials.” The Bellweather trials are cases specifically chosen to set the tone for all subsequent cases. They help the plaintiff and defense counsel gauge how juries will respond to such cases, and give them a good idea of how similar cases are likely to play out. They can help set precedents and allow a large number of cases pass through the system quickly, yet justly.
The dates for the first four Bellweather trials in the Xarelto litigation have already been set for early 2017. The dates are:
February 6, 2017
March 13, 2017
April 24, 2017
May 30, 2017
Standing up to a large corporation such as a major pharmaceutical company alone can be a challenge. But having someone on your side, whether it’s an experienced, knowledgeable attorney, or thousands of other people who are in your situation and understand what you’re going through, can give you the power to take a stand. Don’t go it alone. Seek help from an attorney to find out what you can do to make sure that your rights are protected.
When a person is injured at work, the impact to the worker is huge, but the effects it can have on the family can be just as devastating. The income that you expected to earn is compromised, often making it difficult to pay rent and bills and to fund retirement and college savings. The financial loss to the family simply isn’t well compensated in the Workers’ Compensation system. This is particularly true for catastrophic injury and death cases in which the victims are unlikely to ever work again.
It is devastating to have your dreams and goals derailed by an injury. It is ten times worse when you feel your injury is hurting the future of your children. That’s why Oxner + Permar supports Kids’ Chance, a charitable organization offering college scholarships to the children of workers who were killed or catastrophically injured at work. As attorneys who care deeply about our clients’ well-being, we want to do everything we can to get the word out there about this important charity—especially because workers who suffer these types of injuries (and their families) have so many other things weighing on their minds.
If you know of a family who might qualify for a Kids’ Chance scholarship, please join us in spreading the word so that we can help as many people as possible through this wonderful charity. As a member of the board for Kids’ Chance of NC, Oxner + Permar is committed to getting the applications into the hands of those who need them. Please visit the Kids’ Chance website for more details.
Hezekiah Hardee’s father was seriously injured on the job, but through Kids’ Chance of NC, Hezekiah was able to earn a scholarship that made his dreams of attending college come true. Read his story
