Alabama Work Injury Lawyers   Rotator Cuff Tear

Alabama Work Injury Lawyers                  Rotator Cuff Tear

One of the most common work injuries our office deals with on behalf of our clients are shoulder injuries, specifically rotator cuff tears.  Rotator cuff injuries are common with people whose jobs involve a lot of repetitive motion with their shoulder (such as a production job or using a jack hammer), by bracing yourself during a fall or as the result of lifting even heavy or even lighter objects.  Construction workers and healthcare workers suffer this type of injury most common in our experience, although rotator cuff injuries occur in all types of jobs.

If you suffered a rotator cuff injury due to a job injury, it is not uncommon for the workers’ compensation insurance carrier to argue that the injury was not the result of a job injury, but rather was caused over time and not related to your work injury, or that it was a pre-existing condition and therefore unrelated to one’s job duties-but the existence of an asymptomatic preexisting tear is not the “get out of jail free” card the workers’ compensation adjuster acts like it is.  For example, recently we had a case where a healthcare worker suffered a job injury to their shoulder and was told that the tear was an old one, although the worker had never had any complaints prior to their job injury.  The surgeon stated that the tear was an older one not caused by our client’s job accident, but during their deposition the surgeon testified that per their notes, there were no complaints prior to the job accident and that-in their medical opinion-the job accident aggravated the underlying condition and therefore the injury was compensable.

A job injury does not have to be the sole cause of an “injury,” or even the main cause.  If an underlying condition was asymptomatic and one’s job duties aggravated the underlying condition, then the injury is covered by Alabama Workers’ Compensation laws and the injured worker in entitled to workers compensation benefits.  The workers comp insurance adjuster won’t tell you this, we just did.

Our firm has placed an emphasis of job injury claims, and in our practice injuries to a workers’ rotator cuff are one of the most common injuries we see.  Your rotator cuff is comprised of muscles and tendons that connect the upper arm to the shoulder blade, allowing your shoulder a full range of motion.  When one or more of the tendons is torn, the tendon no longer fully attaches to the head of the humerus bone, causing pain with movement and weakness.  Damage can occur due to an acute injury, chronic overuse or gradually due to aging, but again-if your job duties aggravate the condition, then it is covered by workers compensation.

There are two different types of tears:

(1)        Partial Tear: This type of tear damages the soft tissue, but does not completely sever it.

(2)        Full-Thickness Tear: This tear is a complete tear; it splits the tissue into two pieces.

If you live in AL, and believe have suffered damage to your rotator cuff as a result of a job injury and have questions about your right to workers’ compensation benefits in Alabama and want to speak with an Alabama Workers Compensation Injury Attorney, , please do not hesitate to  contact and speak with one of the experienced Alabama Job Injury attorneys at Powell and Denny for a free consultation; and remember, virtual appointments are available through Zoom from wherever you live.

Powell and Denny: We Work When You Can’t

Offices in Birmingham, AL and Huntsville, AL

 

Alabama Workers’ Compensation Attorneys

Birmingham Workers’ Compensation Lawyers

Hoover Workers Compensation Lawyers

Huntsville Workers’ Compensation Attorneys

Powell and Denny have been selected as one of the Best Law Firms by U.S. News and World Report for each of the last 9 years, have been selected as one of Birmingham’s Top Lawyers by B-Metro Magazine for the last 5 years, have been selected by The National Advocates as one of the Top 20 Workers’ Compensation Firms (plaintiffs) and Powell and Denny, P.C.-has been selected as one of the “Best of the Best” law firms by The American Registry.

Mr. Denny is AV rated by Martindale Hubbard (the highest rating possible) and Mr. Powell has been rated as Superior by The National Registry

+ Powell and Denny have successfully represented injured workers from Birmingham, Huntsville, Florence, Muscle Shoals, Tuscumbia, Athens, Decatur, Town Creek Ardmore, Hartselle, Madison, Toney, Scottsboro, Ft. Payne, New Hope, Guntersville, Albertville, Boaz, Ashville, Anniston, Gadsden, Cullman, Jasper, Gardendale, Morris, Kimberly, Centerpoint, Leeds, Tarrant City, Fairfield, Hueytown, Bessemer, Adger, Tuscaloosa, Cordova, Alabaster, Pelham, Harpersville, Opelika, Phenix City, Montgomery, Clanton, Calera, Enterprise, Monroeville, Mobile, Evergreen and towns and cities in between.

 

 

Alabama Work Injury Lawyers                  Rotator Cuff Tear