This is an excellent question that I often hear from clients who were injured at work: “What does it mean to settle on the rating?” In order to understand what this means it’s important to first know what a rating is. Ratings are given to physical injuries to describe how much or little ability you’ve lost in your injured body part.
For instance, if you sustained a shoulder injury, your doctor may give you a 5% rating. This means that your shoulder is working at 95% of its original capacity. In other words, you’ve lost 5% of your original mobility in that shoulder. Typically, your rating will be assigned by your physician at the end of treatment.
So how does that rating affect your settlement? Your rating is equal to a particular dollar amount that you are owed. There is a specific calculation for determining this amount. Each body part is assigned a number of weeks. Then, they multiply that number by the rating percentage and workers’ compensation rate.
Let’s say you have injured your back and received a 10% rating. A back injury is worth 300 weeks. If your workers’ compensation rate is $300, you’d multiply 10% x 300 x 300. So if you settled on the rating, your settlement would be $9,000.
It’s always a good idea to speak with an attorney who is experienced in workers’ compensation to help you navigate terms such as this. It can take a huge headache out of trying to figure out what you need to know for your case. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact an experienced attorney.
If you want the answer to the question, “how does drug addiction affect social security,” it is important to know that social security benefits do not cover drug addiction. If you are seeking social security benefits because of drug addiction, you will be denied. However, if you are — or were in the past — addicted to drugs, you can still receive benefits. Below are some things you’ll want to keep in mind should you decide to apply for social security benefits while also having a diagnosed drug addiction.
When you file your social security claim, you’ll need to make sure you meet the following requirements:
If you’ve suffered from permanent changes to your physical or mental health due to past drug addiction, you can qualify for social security benefits. Your condition will have to meet certain criteria depending on how it affects you. It’s best to speak with an attorney directly to discuss your specific case.
While you can’t receive social security benefits for your drug addiction, it’s still possible to receive benefits for a different condition while also dealing with drug addiction. However, if the Social Security Administration determines that your condition would go away if you were to stop using drugs, your claim will be denied.
If you’re claiming social security benefits due to a condition caused by past drug use, you’ll need to provide medical evidence through psychiatric reports, names and addresses of your doctors, and a full history of your medical records (including hospitalizations and medications).
If you have additional questions about claiming benefits while dealing with a current or past drug addiction, be sure to speak with an experienced attorney. We can help you determine whether or not your case is likely to qualify and help guide you through the process.
Generally, landlords are responsible for making sure that their tenants’ homes are well-maintained and up to safety regulations. So if your landlord failed to meet these standards, and you were injured as a result, he or she may be accountable. The problem is, with something like carbon monoxide poisoning, there can be some grey area about who’s responsible. So the question is, is your landlord responsible for carbon monoxide poisoning?
If your exposure was caused by something like a broken furnace, pipe, or anything else a landlord is responsible for fixing or maintaining, the landlord is likely to be held accountable — especially if you notified them that there was a problem. If they refuse to fix a problem that you pointed out to them, and you end up getting hurt as a result, they will almost certainly be held accountable.
Things can start getting tricky when the carbon monoxide exposure happens because of an appliance or device that was not broken when you moved in. For example, let’s say you have a gas stove that was properly inspected right before you moved in. Everything was fine with the stove, but a few months later you accidentally damage the stove which causes it to begin leaking carbon monoxide. In this case, your landlord probably won’t be considered responsible.
The same is true if your stove was leaking due to a manufacturing problem. In this instance, you might have a case against the manufacturer instead.
North Carolina law requires that homes have carbon monoxide detectors. If your landlord did not install a carbon monoxide detector and you suffered carbon monoxide exposure, your landlord could be liable.
For many cancer patients, hair loss is a common side effect that comes with chemotherapy. Commonly referred to as “alopecia” in the medical field, hair loss from chemotherapy is supposed to be temporary. However, recently a group of breast cancer survivors found that they were unable to regrow their hair. They were surprised by this, as they were never warned that permanent hair loss was a possible outcome.
It turns out that their permanent alopecia was caused by a chemotherapy drug called “Taxotere.” Taxotere has been approved by the USDA; however, this side effect was not on record. Had the cancer patients known that this drug caused permanent hair loss, they could have chosen an alternative treatment option. One such option would have been Taxol.
It would have been one thing if the manufacturer, Sanofi-Aventis, truly didn’t know that this was a possible side effect; however, evidence shows that they should have known about it as early as 2005. As many as 10-15% of patients who took Taxotere experienced permanent hair loss.
Currently, cases are being filed against Sanofi-Aventis all across the country for permanent hair loss caused by Taxotere. It’s likely that soon these cases will become a part of a multidistrict litigation, which means all of the cases will be handled by one judge.
If you or a loved one has experienced permanent hair loss as a result of Taxotere, don’t hesitate to contact us for a free consultation. Cases such as these are often time sensitive, so you’ll want to make sure you file your claim before the statute of limitations runs out.
At Oxner + Permar, we’re not only passionate about our clients, we’re also passionate about giving back to our communities. In May, we had the awesome experience of getting to work with Habitat for Humanity. Habitat for Humanity is an incredible organization that builds homes for families in need.
They work with a variety of volunteers and companies to help get these homes built. So, on May 13th, we spent the weekend helping with a build in Greensboro. Eleven members from our office met up with a team through the Greensboro Bar Association and came together to build this home.
It was such an incredible experience! For one, the family was there working with us to shingle the roof. We had a great time getting to know the family and talking with them about their experiences. Everyone was so kind. Some of the other volunteers were also hoping to seek help from Habitat for Humanity. They’d put their applications for assistance in, but in order to be considered, they needed to log a certain number of volunteer hours with Habitat.
And in the end, we got the roof finished! We had such a wonderful time getting to know everybody, and spending a day giving back to the community. It’s truly a wonderful opportunity to not only lend a hand, but get to meet the people we were helping. We’re looking forward to our next opportunity to volunteer with Habitat for Humanity!
If you’re interested in volunteering for Habitat for Humanity or have any questions about their organization, be sure to visit their website!
