The Freibott Law Firm was recently successful in prosecuting a case on behalf of one of its clients. Our client sustained a compensable injury to her right ankle while working for Cokesbury Retirement Community. Our client underwent months of conservative treatment for her ankle injury; however, after about five months, she was referred to an ankle surgeon who performed surgery on her ankle. The worker’s compensation insurance company denied the surgical treatment for the ankle as not reasonable, necessary, or causally related to the work accident. The Industrial Accident Board listened to three experts: Claimant’s medical expert – Dr. Jennifer Seifert and two defense experts, Dr. Nathan Schwartz of Dover and Dr. Dheer, a radiologist from New Jersey. The Industrial Accident Board found the opinion of Dr. Seifert, a podiatrist at First State Orthopaedics, to have more of a persuasive position than that of the defense doctors. Moreover, the Industrial Accident Board flat out rejected the testimony of Dr. Dheer. This was the second time that our firm has encountered Dr. Dheer and his testimonial tactics. In the first case, and now in this case, Dr. Dheer’s testimony was unpersuasive and unreliable according to the Industrial Accident Board. The Industrial Accident Board also did not find the opinion of Dr. Nathan Schwartz persuasive, and, as a result, found on behalf of our client. The Industrial Accident Board found that our client, and her fiancé, testified credibly. The Industrial Accident Board ordered the worker’s compensation insurance company to pay for all medical treatment, to include the surgical treatment, and awarded a period of total disability from January 30, 2020 to May 19, 2020. The Industrial Accident Board further ordered the insurance company to pay an attorney’s fee to our firm as well as reimburse our firm for its medical expert witness fee. (Johnson v. Cokesbury/Acts Retirement Community, Hearing No.: 1494724 Date of Decision: August 25, 2020)
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