Pugh v. New Castle County

The Freibott Law Firm was recently successful in its prosecution of a worker’s compensation claim on behalf of one of our clients.  In this case, our client sustained a serious injury while working for his employer, New Castle County.  On May 12, 2010, our client was involved in a work accident wherein he injured his low back and underwent two lumbar fusion surgeries in January of 2012 and again in July of 2014.  Our client was prescribed serious narcotic medication which began to cause problems with his teeth.  Our client last treated with his dentist in August of 2013 wherein his dentist gave him a clean bill of dental health and stated that the state of his dental health was good.  However, after the last back surgery, and the prescribing of the numerous narcotic medications, our client sustained dental decay as a result of “xerostomia”.  Xerostomia is the medical term for dry mouth.  Our client’s dentist, Dr. Michael Duffy, testified that the large amounts of narcotic medications prescribed to him caused the xerostomia and thus, his dental decay.  The current status of our client’s dental health was very poor, a stark contrast to his last visit with his dentist.  The Industrial Accident Board found that the prescribing of the narcotics due to the work accident and surgeries were the cause of the dry mouth and the dental decay and awarded our client the ability to have his dental problems resolved through dentures or permanent dental implants.  Moreover, the Industrial Accident Board ordered the County to reimburse our law firm the cost of the Claimant’s dental expert and ordered the County to pay an attorney’s fee. (Pugh v. New Castle County,Hearing No.: 1354747)