During the course of your claim the medications prescribed by your doctors always change. When you receive the hearing notice, it is always a good idea to notify your attorney of your current treatment regimen. In addition, the side effects caused by your medication can have a significant impact on…
Workers’ compensation benefits are intended to serve as a financial buffer to absorb part of the shock that families go through when a worker is injured on the job. In the best-case scenario, these benefits help to pay bills and medical expenses until the injured worker is well enough to…
The system of workers’ compensation benefits in North Carolina represents a significant improvement over an alternative in which employees who are injured on the job would have to take their employers to court to seek compensation for their expenses related to medical treatment and other costs. So it should come…
As soon as you receive a notice that your hearing has been scheduled, please contact your attorney immediately. This is necessary to ensure that up to date medical records and information is available to the Administrative Law Judge who will hear your case. It also gives a final opportunity to…
Occasionally, a Judge will have a question about the claimant’s medical status that comes up during the hearing, which he/she does not believe is properly addressed in the existing medical evidence. This will result in the scheduling of a post-hearing consultative examination paid for by the Social Security Administration. While…
The next time you drive your car, think about how often you see semi-trucks towing containers, box trucks or other commercial delivery vehicles sharing the road with you. Chances are you see them so often that you do not think about how prevalent they are in delivering the materials and…
If a claimant has to travel more than 75 miles one way to a hearing they can receive reimbursement for expenses. If travel expenses are requested, a form must be filled out and submitted to the Social Security Administration.
Before North Carolina ended its legislative session in August, a bill passed recognizing the therapeutic effects of marijuana. The North Carolina Epilepsy Alternative Treatment Act allows individuals with a certain form of epilepsy to use a type of marijuana, or hemp extract, as a treatment as long as it is…
Increasingly, the Social Security Administration is conducting hearings by video. Whether or not this makes sense in your case is a matter to discuss with your attorney. Sometimes, your lawyer’s familiarity with the local judges outweighs any possible benefit of a slightly quicker hearing date with a judge from another…
As a general rule, Charlotte and Mecklenburg employers with three or more employees must have workers’ compensation insurance. Employers may satisfy the requirements of the law by qualifying with the North Carolina Industrial Commission as self-insurers in lieu of obtaining insurance through a traditional carrier. The three-employee rule does not…