New Study Shows Workplace Injuries May Go Untreated

Companies are required to log any employee injury that results in time off or medical care. These logs are used by regulators to determine the safety of a company. A safer company means less safety inspections, more contracts, and lower worker’s compensation costs. An ideal situation for a company to be in, however, the way some companies are going about lowering their medical claims is anything but ideal.

Recently, the U.S. Government Accountability Office conducted a study of companies medical care practices. The GAO surveyed 504 medical practitioners and company doctors, of these doctors over 1/3 reported they were asked to provide inadequate medical treatment to employees so companies did not have to report the injury on their logs. More then half of the doctors stated they were pressured by company leaders to downplay serious injuries, and more then 2/3 knew of employees who feared reporting injuries at all.

 The U.S Government Accountability Office does not feel that safety regulators have done enough to ensure that workplace injuries are accurately reported. The Federal OSHA, an organization which oversees safety regulators, said they would follow the recommendations laid out by the GAO. However, the Federal OSHA only covers about half of the United States, meaning states like North Carolina (NC) do not have to adopt these policies at all.

It is uncertain at this time if North Carolina (NC) will adhere to the recommendations laid out by the GAO or if the state will push companies to change their reporting policies at all. If you have already been injured at work and feel your medical treatment was inadequate you do have options. A personal injury attorney can work with you to determine where your company or their doctors failed and get you the compensation you need to get back on your feet.

About the Editors: Shapiro, Lewis & Appleton is a law firm which focuses on injury and accident law and we have experience handling medical malpractice cases. Check out our case results to see for yourself. Our law firm has offices in Elizabeth City, North Carolina (NC) and Virginia Beach, Virginia (VA). Our attorneys have handled thousands of medical malpractice cases including surgical errors, misdiagnosis, and negligence. We would like to send you one of our FREE reports about medical malpractice, including our Top 10 Tips from a Medical Malpractice Insider and our special report on the top 5 surgical errors you need to know about. Our lawyers hold licenses in NC, VA, SC, WV, KY and DC. We are ready to talk to you by phone right now—we provide free initial confidential injury case consultations, so call us toll free at 1-800-752-0042. Our injury attorneys also host an extensive injury law video library on Youtube .  In addition, our lawyers proudly edit the Northeast North Carolina Injuryboard, as well as the Virginia Beach Injuryboard and Norfolk Injuryboard as a pro bono public information service.