Traumatic Brain Injury Case Settles at Mediation
While the Virginia Workers Compensation Commission has a very successful program of remote and telephonic mediation, Doug Landau prefers for his clients (AND their family members) to join him in person, especially for traumatic brain injury cases (TBI). In 3 out of his 5 most recent Mediations, including 3 brain injury cases (32 involving skull fractures), Landau’s client’s have had family members by their sides.
In a recent TBI case, the client was injured in a fall from a ladder, which started “walking,” while he was servicing a trailer. This caused the service tech to hit the pavement below. The employer found the worker unconscious, in a pool of their own blood, with his skull fractured in 5 places.
Landau was able to get the medical treatment, transportation, medication and hospitalization for:
- Temporal bone fracture,
- Shoulder fracture,
- traumatic brain injury (including subdural, hematoma, right temporal lobe hematoma, anterior/posterior diameter of the hematoma, mass effect in right cerebral hemisphere manifested by the diminished size of the right lateral ventricle compared to the left),
- sensorineural hearing loss,
- tooth injury
Today, the injured worker’s balance is still off and they now have vertigo and other sequelae, including:
- – Frontal Lobe & executive function deficit
- – Anterograde Amnesia
- – Retrograde Amnesia
- – Attention & concentration deficit
- – Other speech disturbance
At the time of this injury, the client was making almost a thousand dollars a week as a horse trailer repair technician. Under the court’s AWARD Order, the insurer was paying Temporary Total Disability (TTD), until filing for a Hearing for the claimant’s alleged medical non-compliance for not keeping appointments, not rescheduling medical appointments, etc. This client had missed appointments as alleged, but Landau immediately filed paperwork showing that he was able and willing to attend any appointment, and had no intention of being noncompliant. Because of this, the employer appealed, and the case was put on the docket for 2024.
The claimant’s brother stepped in to help the claimant with rescheduling medical appointments and took part in the successful Mediation of this case. They both appeared at Landau’s office, so that there would be severla fewer screens required, and it helps to work with a TBI victim in person. For major injury cases, Landau prefers “in person” Mediations, prep sessions and Depositions.
The ABRAMS LANDAU TEAM was able to get the employer to pick indemnity payments back up once the claimant visited the authorized, treating neurological specialist. The physician indicated that treatment should mostly be completed by18 months post-accident.
Insurance defense counsel positive the $25,000 would be sufficient amount of money for this client’s future medical needs. The ABRAMS LANDAU team believes that figure to be low, and to protect the claimant’s interests post-settlement, ABRAMS LANDAU has been working with AMETROS/Careguard to set up an account to pay for his medical bills with Virginia Workers Compensation Medical Fee Schedule (“VMFS”) rates. Even though no Medicare Set Aside (MSA) was required, as the client has not applied for Social Security Disability, does not intend to do so in the near future and intends to return to work, this expert medical bill payment guidance is a good protection.
If you, or someone you know, has questions regarding worker’s compensation settlements, brian injury cases, skull fractures, permanent disability from an accident, the payment of their checks, or on-the-job injuries, please contact us at (703) 796–9055 or email frontdesk@landaulawshop.com.