Also, insurance company authorizations often ask you to give permission so that the insurance company can discuss your injuries, treatment and care with your doctors. This is inappropriate because the physician/patient relationship is confidential and private. It is one thing to let the insurance company have access to your medical records, it is a different story to let the adverse party talk to your doctors. Maintaining confidentiality prevents undue suggestions from the insurance company. Attorney Douglas Rallo makes sure that any authorizations you sign will not allow the insurance company to talk to your doctors.

Finally, insurance company authorizations often contain a statement whereby you authorize the disclosed information to be admitted into evidence at a trial. This is unwarranted because you may be authorizing evidence that is harmful to your case, and also because evidence should be admitted in accordance with rules of law at the time of trial – not before.

• In the past, American Medical Association (AMA) guidelines were not considered in determining how much permanent disability a workers compensation claimant had as a result of their injury.  The new legislation requires the Commission to utilize AMA guidelines, along with the claimants occupation, age, earning capacity and evidence of disability corroborated by the treating medical records, in determining how much should be awarded for permanent disability.
•  Utilization review:  When a doctor or hospital proposes certain testing or treamtment, the insurance companies have been asking “utilization review” companies to decide whether the treatment or testing is necessary.  In the past, the opinion of utilization review has not been binding, but was one factor to consider in deciding whether the proposed testing or treatment was necessary.  With the new legislation, the decision of utilization review carries much more weight .  The decision of utilization review will be followed unless you, the claimant, can prove that a “variance” from the decision is necessary.
• If you were incapable of returning to your pre-accident occupation as a result of the work injury and were forced to take a much lower paying job, current workers compensation law would allow you to receive a loss of earning capacity award for the remainder of your life.  With the new legislation, a loss of earning capacity claim would be limited to age 67 years old or five years of benefits, whichever is longer.
• Carpal tunnel syndrome is a condition, usually caused by forceful repetitive work, which causes compression of one of the nerves in your wrist resulting in nubmness, tingling, and difficulty with lifting.  The amount of compensation that can be awarded for carpal tunnel syndrome cases has been reduced by 7.5%, in the new legislation.
• The workers compensation statute contains a fee schedule which determines the amount of money paid to healthcare providers for treatment of workers compensation injuries.  The new legislation reduces those payments to healthcare providers by 30%. 
   
• All arbitrators (judges) at the Workers Compensation Commission have had their positions terminated as of July 1, 2011.  New appointments will be made by the governor with the advice and consent of the Senate, and their terms will be reduced from 6 years to 3 years.

At the Law Offices of Douglas Rallo, P.C.,  we continue to stay on top of new developments in the law so that we can provide the best possible service to our clients.  If you have any questions, please contact us.

As she crossed the street she was struck by a car driven by a 79 year old Lake Forest resident. There were no independent eye witnesses to the occurrence.

“Although she was wearing dark clothes and crossed a dark street mid-block at night, we felt that the driver could and should have avoided the accident”, Rallo said.

Raguideau’s injuries included a head injury, a brief coma, multiple fractures, and impaired hearing.

After the accident, she returned to France to live with her parents while she
recuperated, according to Rallo.

The claimant’s house had burned down in a fire. She lost all of her treasured possessions, including family photographs. After living several months in a hotel while the house was being reconstructed, she and her husband had finally moved back into their home. One wall remained to be painted. The general contractor located a couple of non-union painters in a tavern and hired them to finish the painting. Through their carelessness, they caused another fire while the claimant was upstairs relaxing comfortably in her bedroom. She smelled smoke and ran out to the front of her house, where she watched her brand new house burn down in front of her again.

This event was so upsetting that the claimant developed post traumatic stress disorder. She suffered anxiety whenever she smelled smoke, saw a small fire such as a homeowner burning leaves, or heard the sound of a fire truck’s siren.

She did not have any physical injuries whatsoever and now lives a normal life.

“Claimant was at the site to prepare it for a concrete pour and saw two 4×8 sheets of plywood laying on top of one another”, said Rallo. “The plywood sheets were not nailed down or marked to indicate that they covered a hole in the floor”, he said. Claimant picked the sheets up one by one. “Without any warning on the plywood itself, and since claimant couldn’t see far in front of him when he picked up the wood, he was unable to avoid falling into the hole”, said Rallo. The claimant was transported
from the scene to Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, where he was treated for a fractured pelvis and several broken ribs sustained in the accident.

According to Rallo, “the third party lawsuit alleged that certain subcontractors laid the plywood on the concrete floor without nailing them down and marking them with the word “hole”, both of which were required by O.S.H.A. Also, as owner and general contractor in control of the work, the bank had a legal duty to supervise and make sure the property was safe for the workers”.