Protecting Your Health

Your health and well-being should always be your top priority. Some injuries may not present symptoms immediately but can worsen over time. Prompt medical evaluation ensures that all visible or hidden injuries are diagnosed and treated early. Timely medical intervention can prevent complications and promote quicker recovery.

Establishing a Medical Record

Seeking immediate medical attention creates an official medical record of your injuries, which is essential for any personal injury claim. Medical documentation provides concrete evidence of the injuries sustained and the treatments required. This record is invaluable when working with a personal injury lawyer Plymouth to build a strong case.

Strengthening Your Legal Case

In personal injury claims, timing is critical. Insurance companies and opposing parties often scrutinize the timeline of events following an injury. Delaying medical treatment can be used against you, suggesting that your injuries were not severe or were caused by something other than the accident.

A personal injury lawyer MA will always emphasize the importance of medical records in demonstrating the severity and direct cause of your injuries.

Key Benefits of Immediate Medical Attention:

• Early diagnosis: ensures that all injuries are identified and treated promptly
• Accurate documentation: provides a clear medical record that supports your injury claim
• Causation proof: links your injuries directly to the accident, strengthening your case
• Preventing complications: reduces the risk of untreated injuries worsening over time

Enhancing Your Compensation Claim

Prompt medical attention not only aids in recovery but also determines the compensation you may receive. Accurate and immediate medical documentation supports your claim for medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering.

Essential Components for a Strong Compensation Claim:

• Medical bills: documentation of all medical expenses related to the injury
• Treatment records: detailed records of treatments and therapies received
• Doctor’s notes: professional medical opinions on the severity and impact of your injuries
• Prognosis: future medical needs and potential long-term effects of your injuries

Consult Our Personal Injury Lawyer MA

If you receive traumatic injuries, do not wait to seek medical attention. After seeking medical care, consult a personal injury lawyer MA to explore your legal options. They can guide you through the complexities of your case and ensure your rights are protected. Contact our trusted personal injury lawyer Plymouth today to discuss your case and take the first step toward recovery and justice.

The issues identified in the OSHA investigation were a repetition of the very same problems OSHA encountered when it previously inspected a Forever 21 store in another state. The prior violations were found in 2011. As a result of the repeat violations, the latest fines against the company total $55,000.

Two workplace safety issues were identified. Stock items were discovered piled in such a manner that employees were placed at risk of injury from falling boxes. Moreover, the emergency exits were either blocked or the passageways otherwise too small to accommodate the safety of the company’s workers.

OSHA indicated that the cited company has several options to choose from upon receipt of the notice of violations. Within 15 business days, Forever 21 must pay the fines and correct the underlying safety problems. In the alternative, it can request a meeting with the area director for OSHA to attempt to conciliate the findings. Finally, the store also has the option of formally contesting the OSHA findings.

A company’s failure to follow safety procedures places its employees at greater risk of a workplace accident. This retailer must now answer to OSHA once again for the same issues that were discovered in another of its stores in New Jersey. Apart from the potential imposition of significant fines by OSHA, those store workers who suffer an injury on the job are likely entitled to workers’ compensation benefits. Professional assistance is available to help with the timely filing and processing of claims in Massachusetts to ensure that all benefits to which a worker is entitled are received.

Source: Burlington, MA Patch, “Burlington Business Cited for Workforce Safety Violations,” Richard Hosford, Feb. 13, 2013

The gas company received reports of a gas leak late on a Saturday afternoon. Officials moved to evacuate the area ahead of the 5:30 p.m. explosion. The people injured were primarily city and gas company employees. When gas workers discovered an explosion was imminent, most of the individuals who were injured took cover behind a utility truck. The truck was destroyed in the blast that followed.

In all, nine firefighters and two policemen, as well as four gas company workers, two civilians and a Springfield government employee were taken to two area hospitals for treatment. The nature and extent of their injuries was not detailed in a news report. However, officials lauded the quick thinking of the workers involved to prevent the potential for catastrophic injuries to a great number of people.

Workers’ compensation benefits are typically paid to employees in Massachusetts who are injured or become ill on the job. Firemen and policemen, however, do not come under the provisions of the statute and are handled separately according to our laws and procedures. Here, the gas workers and the injured city government worker are likely entitled to receive workers’ compensation benefits to cover their medical expenses and missed time from work, while the injured firemen and police officers have procedures that apply specifically to them.

Source: wistv.com, “Gas blast at Mass. strip club under investigation,” Nov. 24, 2012

The worker was said to have been stuck for nearly a half hour before he was discovered and 911 was alerted. Local firefighters responded. Shortly before they arrived, others at the country club were able to lift the cart from the injured man. Though conscious, he was said to be in pain.

Rescue workers applied a medical splint. It was noted that the device used was intended for circumstances where a bone had been broken. Once placed on a backboard, he was transferred to Salem Hospital for treatment. No further word on his condition was immediately available.

A workplace injury is potentially devastating on several levels. First, there is the concern for the safety and well-being of the worker. Second, the employee faces medical costs and likely lost income from employment during any recovery period. Fortunately, Massachusetts workers’ compensation benefits typical apply in these circumstances to both assist with the costs involved and to cover the employee for lost income so that the injured employee may concentrate on getting better and returning to the job.

Source: Swampscott, MA Patch, “Tedesco Worker Injured in Cart Incident,” Terry Date, Aug. 20, 2012

The woman was working as a vet assistant on May 2, 2011 when she was asked to hold down a cat so that blood could be drawn. She did so, though she was reported to have open wounds and scratches on her arms that were unrelated to the cat. Subsequently, the cat was diagnosed with rabies, and the worker underwent a two-week series of rabies treatment that was initiated two days later. The treatment was based on the fact that she was exposed to the saliva of the cat during the blood drawing procedure. As a Massachusetts worker facing a similar predicament might do, she filed a workers’ compensation claim to cover her expenses related to the treatment.

A veterinarian in the clinic where the woman worked submitted a letter on her behalf. The doctor stated the worker was exposed to the cat’s saliva and thus could face the possibility of contracting rabies. Essentially, if the cat licked its wounds and the worker’s open wound came in contact with the saliva, the worker would be at risk for rabies. The doctor offered that she had confirmed with the local Virginia hospital that the worker needed post-exposure rabies treatment.

Nevertheless, a deputy commissioner of the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission denied the claim. It was held the mere possibility of exposure was insufficient to qualify for workers’ compensation benefits. In particular, the case originally turned on the fact that the cat apparently neither bit nor licked the worker. The state’s Department of Health indicated that wet saliva would have had to enter an individual’s central nervous system through an open wound or otherwise come in contact with the person’s mucous membrane.

On June 18, however, the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission chairman, as well as the commissioner and chief deputy commissioner, issued an opinion letter reversing the prior ruling and awarding workers’ compensation benefits. It relied on a previous state appellate court ruling that held exposure to a cat’s saliva through scratches was a compensable injury. Accordingly, the veterinarian assistant’s claim was validated, entitling her to benefits resulting from exposure to the rabid cat.

Source: The Washington Times, “Vet worker wins claim for rabies treatment,” David Sherfinski, June 18, 2012