Columbia Personal Injury Lawyer - Workplace Injuries

Worker Compensation reform...A case of insurance company Profits over injured workers?

Pete Strom — Sat, 17 Feb 2007 05:28:31 GMT

I was proud to see this week that the leadership in the South Caroline Senate is standing up to the insurance industry. Workers Compensation insurance has gone out of site over the past few years and it has the small business community screaming for reform.

Insurance companies are making millions off of South Carolina's workers' compensation program, Senate President Pro Temp Glenn McConnell said Thursday. "With workers' compensation reform being debated, don't you think that this General Assembly cannot turn its head to the fact that the insurance companies appeared to have been grazing on an oat field, some of them, apparently ... while this state is suffering higher and higher rates?" he asked.

It is easy for me to understand how a small businessman may temporary forget about the welfare of his injured workers and their families when the business's bottom line continues to shrink. The business community needs some relief but not at the expense of those suffering legitimate on the job injuries.

The insurance industry wants to blame the lawyers and doctors for the rate increase. Lord knows that if we didn't help those injured on the job, the insurance adjustors would take grotesque advantage of them. Many doctors have to hire extra staff to fight for approval from the insurance companies to perform necessary procedures. You also should know that the insurance industry, in many cases, then cut the doctors fees by bundling their collection codes and then slow pay them.

Senator McConnell is not alone. "You're absolutely correct," said Sen. Larry Grooms, R-Bonneau. "The profit seems to be obscene."

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Pete Strom

Hazardous Waste Plant Fire Evacuates Half of Apex, NC

Staff Writer — Fri, 06 Oct 2006 10:46:40 GMT

Fellow InjuryBoard blogger, Charles Monnett in Charlotte, has a great post about this morning's chemical fire in Apex, NC. Over half the city had to be evacuated as chlorine and other hazardous gasses lingered over the city in a cloud of noxious smoke. The city is located about 10 miles from Raleigh, and many people, mostly residents of a nursing home, have been admitted to local hospitals with respiratory issues.

The Strom Law Firm has experience dealing with evacuees from toxic gas spills, as we represented victims of the Norfolk-Southern train crash chlorine spill last year. If you or a family member has been evacuated or injured as a result of the Apex fire, it may be important to contact a lawyer to protect your legal rights.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Staff Writer

Wokplace Accidents Costly For Illegal Immigrants

Staff Writer — Thu, 14 Sep 2006 17:03:29 GMT

The Charlotte Observer ran an article last week about the toll that worksite injuries take on illegal immigrants. Many often work without health insurance (a crisis that faces many American workers), can't communicate with bosses and coworkers, aren't covered by workers' compensation and don't get severance pay if they are hurt on the job and forced to quit.

One of the examples given in the story is an accident that occurred right here in South Carolina:

The failure to communicate may have been fatal for a 16-year-old Latino who fell from a construction project and hit his head in May 2004 in South Carolina. The construction boss told the crew chief to take the teen to a hospital right away. The boss later told federal officials that the crew leader usually understood English. But the leader took the youth to his home and gave him aspirin instead. The teen died that night.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Staff Writer