The North Carolina Court of Appeals left the Industrial Commission scrambling when it issued its September 20, 2016, Opinion in Bentley v. Jonathan Piner Construction, holding the plain language of N.C. Gen. Stat. § 97-84 was violated when the Commission based its Opinion and Award on an Opinion issued by a deputy commissioner who was…
As opioid use continues to plague the community, as part of the workers’ compensation system and otherwise, North Carolina is one of many states working to take steps to reduce availability and use of prescription pain killers. Per the North Carolina Opioid Action Plan (2017-2021), prepared by the Prescription Drug Abuse Advisory Committee (PDAAC), unintentional…
Plaintiffs’ waterfront home was damaged during Hurricane Irene in August of 2011. After the storm, Plaintiffs made a claim under a flood insurance policy issued by Allstate Insurance Company (“Allstate”) under the National Flood Insurance Program. Following inspections of the property by engineers hired by both Allstate and Plaintiffs, Allstate denied the claim. FEMA upheld…
On July 20, 2017, Governor Roy Cooper signed House Bill 26 into law. In response to Wilkes v. City of Greenville, HB 26 amends G.S. § 97-82(b) of the Workers’ Compensation Act, specifically addressing the issue of medical presumption in Wilkes. Please reach out to a member of our Workers’ Compensation team with any questions or concerns.
According to the July 10, 2017 version of the Workers’ Compensation Medicare Set-Aside Portal (WCMSAP) User Guide, you may now request a reduction in the amount of a CMS-approved workers’ compensation MSA account if you believe the projected care has changed so much that the new proposed amount would result in a 10% or $10,000…
Although overshadowed by the Wilkes v. City of Greenville opinion issued the same day, the N.C. Supreme Court came to a decision on another workers’ compensation matter last month. While not as significant as Wilkes in terms of future claim handling (at least until subsequent legislation takes effect), the decision in Harrison v. Gemma Power…