When Jaundice Leads To Brain Injury
National News
According to ABC News, Susan Haas says that when her daughter, Lexi, was born she was a normal, healthy baby girl. So when Lexi, at 3 days old, developed jaundice -- a common liver condition that is estimated to affect six out of every 10 babies -- the doctor was not concerned, Haas said.
That was seven years ago. Today at 6:30 a.m., Lexi, 7, headed into an operating room for brain surgery. It is an extreme measure for a brain injury that Haas said could have been caught early and treated inexpensively.
"She would not be having any problems if she'd had a $1 bilirubin test," she said. Instead, Haas estimated that medical expenses and other services would cost $25 million over Lexi's life.
If your child has had the same experience, you may want to consider finding a brain injury lawyer to help you file a case. For those in the New York area, John Q. Kelly and his law firm can be of assistance. They've had many high profile cases, including O.J. Simpson and the estate of Natalee Holloway. They also specialize in medical malpractice and wrongful death cases.
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Workers’ Compensation Subrogation of Administrative Fees and Costs
When a worker covered by workers’ compensation makes a claim against a third party, the workers’ compensation insurance retains the right to subrogate against any recovery from that third party for all benefits paid to or on behalf of a claimant injured at work. When subrogating for more than basic medical and indemnity benefits, the Texas workers’ compensation subrogation statute provides that “the net amount recovered by a claimant in a third‑party action shall be used to reimburse the carrier for benefits, including medical benefits that have been paid for the compensable injury.” TX Labor Code § 417.002.
In fact, all 50 states provide for similar subrogation. However, none of them precisely outlines which payments or costs paid by a compensation carrier constitute “compensation” and can be recovered. The result is industry-wide confusion and an ongoing debate and argument with claimants’ attorneys over what can and can’t be included in a carrier’s lien for recovery purposes.
In addition to medical expenses, death benefits, funeral costs and/or indemnity benefits for lost wages and loss of earning capacity resulting from a compensable injury, workers’ compensation insurance carriers also expend considerable dollars for case management costs, medical bill audit fees, rehabilitation benefits, nurse case worker fees, and other similar fees. They also incur other expenses in conjunction with the handling and adjusting of workers’ compensation claims. Workers’ compensation carriers typically assert, of course, that, they are entitled to reimbursement for such expenditures when it recovers its workers’ compensation lien. Injured workers and their attorneys disagree.