On July 29, 2010, senior partner Dan Capron was elected vice-president of the Big Ten Football Officials’ Association at the organization’s annual clinic in Providence, RI.  At the clinic, Dan was also recognized for having completed 10 years of service as a Big Ten football official.  The Big Ten Football Association consists of 50 members of the Big Ten football officiating staff.  Dan will assume the responsibilities as president of the Association in July, 2011.

To see Dan in action on the field as a Big Ten Referee, click here.

Senior partner Dan Capron spoke to the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission Lawyers’ Association on July 13.  Dan's  talk, Intervening Injury: Breaking the Causal Connection, examined a significant ruling from the Appellate Court in a case he handled for an over-the-road truck driver.

When does an intervening injury or cause break the connection to the original accident or injury?  Dan’s case has implications for workers who incur an injury following a job-related injury.

Dan’s client, the truck driver, stopped to clean his wiper blades at a rest stop during a snowstorm, slipped off the bumper of his truck, and injured his lower back.  The company accepted responsibility for the claim, and the driver received physical therapy for the injury.  Several months later, the client was involved in an accident while riding a motorcycle and was hospitalized with a significant increase in his lower back pain.  The company denied further workers’ compensation payments based on the fact that the intervening accident served to break the chain of causation with the initial work accident.

The client’s case moved from the Workers’ Compensation Commission, where it was denied, to the Circuit Court, where the decision to deny benefits was overturned.  Two doctors found that the original work accident remained a contributing factor.  The company then filed an appeal to the Illinois Appellate Court, which affirmed the Circuit Court’s decision, holding that the driver was entitled to the continued payment of compensation benefits. 

During his talk to the Association, Dan provided attendees with a detailed perspective of the case and answered questions concerning the complex issues surrounding the Appellate Court’s ruling.  Members of the Association and staff of the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission received a Continuing Legal Education credit for attending the seminar.

Nick Avgerinos, senior partner, spoke in May at the Iowa Community Services Conference on “Ten Things To Do if You’re Injured on the Job.  Community leaders, union stewards, and business agents from all regions of Iowa attended the conference sponsored by United Way Services and the Dubuque Federation of Labor & Union Counselors Association of Dubuque.

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

December 15, 2009 marks Capron & Avgerinos’ 20 successful years of practicing workers’ compensation and personal injury law.  We founded our business to provide the highest quality of legal assistance to those who are injured.

Fast forward 20 years. After representing thousands of clients, speaking at events to educate workers on their rights,and driving thousands of miles throughout Iowa and Illinois to courthouses and hearing sites, we are still energized and enthused every morning when we walk into the office.

Our passion for providing quality legal representation still is alive at Capron & Avgerinos today. We embrace every case with the same care and attention to detail as we did in the early days of our firm.

The key to our business is that we’ve adapted to changes in the marketplace and the legal profession, while always staying focused on the needs of our clients.

With your continuing support, colleagues and friends, we’re committed to success every day. We’re aiming for another wonderful twenty years—and more. Let us hear from you!

Sincerely,

Nick J. Avgerinos,
Dan F. Capron,
Stephen J. Smalling,
and Michael A. Rom

More than two-thirds of occupational health practitioners said that they observed employees’ fear of disciplinary action for reporting a work-related illness or injury, reveals the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) in an eye-opening report.   

 

The GAO report underscores the reasons why it can be critical to consult a qualified legal advisor and seek objective medical advice if you are injured at work.

 

Fifty-three percent of occupational health practitioners surveyed by the GAO said that they experienced pressure from company officials to downplay injuries or illnesses.  What’s more, forty-seven percent of health practitioners reported that they experienced this pressure to downplay injuries from workers themselves.  

 

The GAO reported that the pressure may be compounded by safety incentive programs at work that reward employees—and teams—who have fewer injuries.  Also, in some industries, such as construction, a company’s safety record can affect the way a firm is ranked competitively during the contract bidding process.

 

Health practitioners surveyed also noted that employers may seek out alternative opinions if the initial diagnosis would result in a recordable injury or illness.  For example, one practitioner said that an injured worker’s manager took the worker to multiple healthcare providers until the manager found one who would certify that treatment of the injury required only first aid, which is not a recordable injury. 

 

The GAO surveyed more than 1,000 occupational health practitioners. For a full copy of the report, visit

 http://edlabor.house.gov/documents/111/pdf/publications/GAO-OSHA-200910.pdf.

Chronic pain sufferers may feel exhausted, depressed, and unable to carry on their daily activities.   But The Wall Street Journal reports that a handful of new treatment techniques—some adapted from the field of anesthesiology—now promise hope for those who experience long-term, debilitating pain.

These new therapies generally share a goal of keeping pain signals from reaching the brain. Devices implanted in the body can send electrical impulses to stimulate nerves, deliver medication to a pain site, such as a joint, or send signals that can block pain.   These methods could provide relief for the more than 76.5 million Americans who experience chronic pain—in their head, neck, shoulders, knees, and back.

The Wall Street Journal points out, “Many of the so-called interventional pain management procedures are controversial because they can be expensive and there is not enough research in some cases to support their effectiveness.”   Infection, bleeding or damage to nerves are also risks with techniques that require surgery or invasive procedures.   

Some patients may balk at the costs of such treatments, estimated to range from $15,000 to $50,000, including equipment, surgery and anesthesia. However, a neurosurgeon cited in The Journal said that in the case of nerve stimulation, a patient might break even in two years, because the pain treatments could reduce doctor’s visits, medication costs, and the use of medical resources.  Some interventional pain treatments may be covered under Medicare and many private insurance plans.  

To learn more about what The Wall Street Journal has to say about the pros and cons of these new methods, click here. 

A back injury can take the steam out of your personal or working life.  Whether you do physical labor for a living or are simply tackling home improvement projects, summer is prime time for back injuries.    The Center to Protect Workers’ Rights (CPWR) http://www.cpwr.com/pdfs/pubs/hazard_alerts/hazback.pdf provides common sense rules to keep your back in top shape—on or off the job.  

Research shows that most back injuries are caused by lifting, lowering, carrying, pushing, and pulling objects.  Here are ten tips from the CPWR to reduce the risk of injuring your back:

 

1.    Cut down on carrying.  Have materials delivered close to where they will be used.

2.    Try to store materials and heavy tools at waist height.

3.    Rest when you are tired.

4.    Keep sidewalks and passageways clear and dry.

5.    Use carts, dollies, wheelbarrows, or other aids to move materials.

6.    Don’t lift anything more than 50 pounds by yourself; ask for help.

7.    Don’t twist when lifting or lowering materials.

8.    If you’re lifting something off the ground, don’t bend at the waist.  Knee on one knee to hoist up the load.

9.    Lift with your thigh and leg muscles.

10. Keep the load as close to your body as you can.

 

Not surprisingly, back injury is the leading cause of disability in Americans under 45 years old.* Your back takes part in almost every move you make; taking proper precautions, you can preserve it for years to come. 

 

*National Centers for Health Statistics, Chartbook on Trends in the Health of Americans 2006, Special Feature: Pain.  Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus06.pdf.