Indiana Injury Lawyer Blog

Two people were seriously injured in a morning car accident near State Road 13 when a truck driver pulled out into the path of a Chevy Impala. Police reported that the driver and a passenger in the Impala were taken to Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis, Indiana, after their vehicle was struck, which caused it to flip and land in a ditch.

The injuries at the time of reporting were not thought to be life-threatening. The driver and a passenger in the truck were not injured in the collision. Immediately following the collision, police shut down portions of SR 13 between 226th Street and 256th Street while crews cleared debris from the accident.

Continue reading " TWO PEOPLE ARE SERIOUSLY INJURED IN MORNING CAR CRASH IN HAMILTON COUNTY " »

The Indiana Court of Appeals has upheld the Worker's Compensation Board's prior ruling that an employer, a pizza retailer, must pay for the weight-loss surgery of an obese employee. All is not as it seems with this headline; however, as the ruling is based on the Court's reliance on medical testimony related to the actual injury the employee suffered while in the course and scope of his employment, a back injury. The Indiana Court of Appeals noted the medical evidence was such that the weight loss surgery was an extension of additional medical care required to ensure the success of an operation for a back injury.

Adam Childers, a 340 lb. cook employed by Boston's The Gourmet Pizza, of Schererville was originally injured by a freezer door. He treating surgeons testified that while he needed back surgery, the surgery would not be successful unless he first had weight-loss surgery. The employer, Boston's, argued it shouldn't have to pay because Childers' weight was a pre-existing condition, but the Indiana Workers' Compensation Board and the Court said the company had to pay because his weight and the accident created a single and continuous injury.

Continue reading " INDIANA COURT UPHOLDS WOKERS COMPENSATION BOARD RULING THAT FORCES EMPLOYER TO PAY FOR WEIGHT LOSS SURGERY " »

The LAP-BAND® Adjustable Gastric Banding System is a gastric banding system that helps individuals lose and control weight by reducing the amount of food that their stomach can hold at one time. According to the parent-company's website, the name "LAP-BAND" comes from the minimally invasive surgical technique used (laparoscopy) and the silicone gastric band placed around the top of the upper part of your stomach. The LAP-BAND® System works by helping individuals control their food intake and supporting long term, sustainable weight loss.

Although this procedure is not the type of surgery one might expect to be covered under a Worker’s Compensation claim, one Indiana pizza store has learned that its insurer will do just that. Boston's, a pizza shop in Schererville, Indiana, was told by an Indiana Appellate Court that its insurer will pay for an employee’s weight loss surgery and a subsequent back surgery. The issue arose after 25-year old and then 340 lb. (he is now listed at 380lbs.) Adam Childers was injured on the job.

Childers was injured in March 2007, when he was hit by the freezer door in the kitchen of Boston’s Gourmet Pizza. The injury, which caused him to fall down, caused Childers heavy back pain that spread to his legs and was said to require an operation. The twist to this story came in when Childers was medically advised that this operation wouldn’t be successful unless he lost some weight. In fact, according to at least one physician's testimony, there was a possibility that if he lost enough weight the back surgery might even turn out to be unnecessary.

Medical testimony offered during the Worker's Compensation Board Hearing, however, demonstrated that Childers was unable to lose weight on his own during the period he had his accident, and so his weight situation at that time, when added to the incident, was found to create a “single injury” under a worker's compensation claim that made him eligible for both the Lap-Band procedure and the subsequent back surgery.

Continue reading " LAP-BAND WEIGHT LOSS SURGERY TO BE COVERED UNDER INDIANA EMPLOYEE'S WORKERS COMPENSATION CLAIM " »