Levinson Axelrod, P.A. Partners Celine Vitale and Rich Marcolus recently secured a Total Disability settlement for a grocery store worker who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis after undergoing treatment for a work-related injury.
Celine and Rich’s case involved a grocery store worker who suffered a work-related injury and received treatment that included a cervical epidural steroid injection. Unfortunately, the worker was later diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, which Rich and Celine argued was caused by the improper administration of the epidural steroid injection.
As noted in court records, this case focused on claims that an improperly administered epidural injection was responsible for our clients’ MS diagnosis. In its attempts to defend against the claims, the insurance company retained several experts who contested the causal connection between the steroid injection and subsequent MS diagnosis.
Ultimately, after multiple conferences with the insurance carrier’s legal representation and the Deputy Attorney General from the State’s Second Injury Fund, Celine and Rich were able to resolve the case for a Total Permanent Disability ruling that entitles our client to receive weekly payments for life, plus lifetime medical coverage for the compensable injuries.
The case is a powerful illustration of the importance of working with experienced workers’ compensation attorneys in matters where the insurance company contests claims and in cases involving the Second Injury Fund (SIF), which assumes the obligation of paying permanent disability benefits to disabled workers following an initial period of payments made by their employers.
Celine M. Vitale and Rich Marcolus are Levinson Axelrod, P.A. Partners with decades of combined experience representing claimants in workers’ compensation cases across New Jersey. Together, the two have leveraged their extensive insight to help workers and families recover millions of dollars in benefits from New Jersey’s workers’ compensation system following all types of work-related injuries and illnesses.