Social Security Disability Blog Page 5 of 13

Was Your SSD Claim Denied? This May be Why

Posted on behalf of Schmidt Kramer on October 23, 2015 in Social Security Disability

If you’ve applied for Social Security Disability (SSD) benefits but were denied, you may be feeling frustrated or confused. But according to the Social Security Administration (SSA), you’re not alone—over half of all applicants are denied SSD benefits the very first time they apply. However, once you’ve been denied, you must go through an appeals […]

3 Facts About Social Security Disability Insurance

Posted on behalf of Schmidt Kramer on October 12, 2015 in Social Security Disability

If you suffer from a disability that causes you to be so severely impaired that you cannot work, you may qualify for Social Security disability insurance (SSDI)—a federal program designed to provide long-term financial benefits to those who’ve paid into the program as working adults. But before you begin the lengthy process of applying for […]

Does SSDI Have You Painted Into a Corner? “Return to Work” Policies Often Backfire

Posted on behalf of Schmidt Kramer on May 28, 2015 in Social Security Disability

As a recipient of benefits from Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), you probably face each day wishing you could once again work and earn a comfortable living. You don’t see your benefits as an easy way out of hard work—they are a necessary lifeline after an injury or medical condition took away your ability […]

Will Misinformation and Faulty Predictions Cause the Loss of YOUR Social Security Disability Funds?

Posted on behalf of Schmidt Kramer on May 25, 2015 in Social Security Disability

In recent years, there has been an ongoing battle among politicians about the state of Social Security. It has been public knowledge for a long time that both trust funds—the disability funds and the old age funds—would be depleted within the next few decades, but recent studies have shown the situation to be worse than […]

Mcare Settlement Refund Information For Providers and Payors

Posted on behalf of Schmidt Kramer on April 07, 2015 in Social Security Disability

The Pennsylvania Insurance Department has posted the advisory below for medical providers to apply for recovery from the Mcare Settlement litigation. Below is the instructions and information for providers and payors. Mcare Settlement Refund Information Mcare has begun the process of implementing the settlement of litigation brought by the Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania (HAP), the […]

Barriers to Job Changes When Unable to Perform Physical Tasks Due to a Health Condition

Posted on behalf of Schmidt Kramer on April 04, 2015 in Social Security Disability

Determining disability is much more than verifying that a condition renders a person completely unable to work, and if you have ever gone through the process yourself, you are all too aware of this. Disability applies to much more than a physical ability to stand or walk, and a majority of disability claims are based […]

ABLE Accounts Help Families Save for Children With Disabilities

Posted on behalf of Schmidt Kramer on March 14, 2015 in Social Security Disability

For decades, families have been able to save money for their children’s college and higher education in a 529 savings account, where the money would be untaxed. These 529 accounts have proven to be immensely popular and successful, but often left families that were raising children with disabilities wondering how they may be able to […]

When the Levy Breaks: The Battle Over Social Security Disability Insurance

Posted on behalf of Schmidt Kramer on February 26, 2015 in Social Security Disability

One of the major polarizing battles in Congress today is one that could affect many disabled Pennsylvania residents—and soon. The Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program is scheduled to run out of sufficient funds for beneficiaries as soon as 2016, and lawmakers are at odds over a suitable fix. SSDI has long been strained beyond […]

Taking a Look at the Social Security Disability Consultative Exam

Posted on behalf of Schmidt Kramer on February 24, 2015 in Social Security Disability

It takes many people months to gather the required medical records, documents, and nerves to apply for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI). Knowing how often applications are denied, and knowing how intense the application and appeals processes can be, most applicants are nearing their breaking point by the time they send in their application packet. […]

The Role of Substance Abuse in Your Disability Claim: Will it Affect Your Benefits?

Posted on behalf of Schmidt Kramer on January 19, 2015 in Social Security Disability

Drug and alcohol abuse is tragic for both the individual suffering as well as their families. Watching a person experience the physical and emotional side effects of an addiction is both a sad and helpless time, and over the long term can often end in a slow and painful death. While addiction is widely considered […]

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$10,043,952.13 Personal Injury
Schmidt Kramer, P.C.partner Gerard C. Kramer won a personal injury action for $10,043,952.13 in Northumberland County on behalf of a volunteer firefighter who was the victim of Intentional Tort. The 50-year-old volunteer firefighter was seriously injured when a barn collapsed, causing a spinal injury which left him a paraplegic. The claim was brought against the arsonist who intentionally started the fire. It is believed that the verdict is the highest ever in Northumberland County.
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$4,034,000.00 Personal Injury
Yesterday a Judge in Union County (Lewisburg, PA) awarded a couple from New Berlin, Pennsylvania, over $4,000,000 because the husband was shot while turkey hunting.You might ask yourself, how does a turkey hunting accident end up with that type of verdict? In order to understand the verdict you would have to know our clients. They are good people who had their life wrecked. Plus, you would have to know the defendant, who should not have been hunting with a gun because he was prohibited after a previous criminal conviction.It is a good verdict, because the Judge was able to do two things with his decision. First, he communicated to two very good people that their losses were something that those of us on the outside could appreciate and value. Mike Hobbins (our client) is a 51 year old guy who lost his sight because a convicted felon --who should not have even possessed a gun-- went hunting illegally, and broke with impunity the most fundamental rule in hunting: identify your target before you pull the trigger. The Judge accepted the financial loss Mr. Hobbins' suffered, but listened closely to the evidence of less tangible losses. When Mike broke down on the stand, because his daughter would end up walking him down the aisle at her wedding, as opposed to how it was supposed to go, the Judge was listening. When Mike could not keep it together, because of how emasculating it was for him not to be able to provide financially for his family, the Judge was listening. It was facts like these that the Judge cited to support the $2,000,000 award for non-economic damages. Second, the Judge wanted to send a message. Union County is a hunting county. Many of the residents hunt there, and people from outside the area come to Union County to hunt. It was my impression, from the Judge's statements as he rendered his decision, that he wanted to send a message to the people in Union County to protect them in their sport. The rules in place to restrict people convicted of crimes not to have a gun are not to be broken. Hunting is serious and you have to identify your target before you shoot. When you turn your back on the rules that are set to provide safety in a sport, you risk being an example. Here, the $1,000,000 punitive damage award sends that message loud and clear.When it really comes down to brass tacks, the right action was taken against a Defendant who may never truly appreciate what kind of impact his reckless choices caused.At Schmidt Kramer, we are injury lawyers. That means we work with people who were hurt in car accidents, who were hurt by the neglect of nursing homes, or those that were seriously injured because of the reckless, thoughtless acts of others. If you or a loved one have been injured in Pennsylvania, we may be able to help. While the verdict yesterday is not one that is representative of every case we do, it does show that serious and dedicated representation can bring good results.Joe ChapmanJanuary 18, 2013
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$2,200,000.00 Auto Accidents
On Monday, January 6, 2014, Schmidt Kramer accident lawyer Scott Cooper obtained a verdict on behalf of his client who is the widow of a man who died in a fiery crash on Interstate 78 in Lebanon County. The awarded verdict of $2.2 million was in a nonjury proceeding before a federal judge in the Middle District of Pennsylvania. That verdict includes $100,000 in punitive damages assessed against the owner of the trucking company.Kamilah Claxton won summary judgment in November after the defendants, Sukhwinder Singh and the trucking company for which he worked, failed to file a brief in opposition to Claxton's motion, which was made in September. The verdict in Claxton v. Singh was issued after the court held a non-jury assessment of damages earlier this month."Mr. Sukhchan Singh, the employer, is liable on the basis of respondent superior, but was also grossly negligent in failing to maintain his vehicle in compliance with state and federal law, particularly with regard to having required safety inspections and correcting defects in its braking equipment," said U.S. District Judge William W. Caldwell of the Middle District of Pennsylvania in his opinion accompanying the verdict."He was also grossly negligent in entrusting his vehicle to Sukhwinder Singh, an inexperienced truck driver who had failed the written test and driving test multiple times before finally earning his commercial driving license," Caldwell said.
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$1,200,000.00 Personal Injury
A Dauphin County jury has awarded a $1.2 million verdict to the parents of a 5-year-old who had an anoxic brain injury and stopped breathing after he had a tonsillectomy.2012-06-26 10:00:00 AMDate of Verdict: June 19. 2012Court and Case No.: C.P. Dauphin County No. 2009-CV-14003-MMJudge: Scott EvansType of Action: Medical malpracticeInjuries: Anoxic brain injuryPlaintiffs Counsel: Terry S. Hyman, Schmidt Kramer, HarrisburgPlaintiffs Experts: Dr. Anna H. Messner, liability; Lucille Packer, Pediatric Otolaryngology, Palo Alto, Calif.; Terry P. Leslie, vocations and earning capacity, Lancaster; Dr. Hilary B. Berlin, pediatric psychiatry, Great Neck, N.Y.Defense Counsel: Andrew H. Foulkrod, Darlene K. King, Foulkrod Ellis, Camp Hill, PADefense Experts: James C. Reilly, Pediatric Otolaryngology, Wilmington, DEComment: A Dauphin County jury has awarded a $1.2 million verdict to the parents of a 5-year-old who had an anoxic brain injury and stopped breathing after he had a tonsillectomy.The entire verdict came against Dr. Andrew M. Shapiro, the doctor who plaintiffs Reginald Graham and Tykeisha Metz alleged chose to have the boy monitored at a pediatric ward. The plaintiffs argued Shapiro failed to tell nurses caring for the baby about, and how to care for, the boy's enhanced risk for respiratory failure.The jury came back on June 19 and awarded Reginald Graham and Tykeisha Mets $500,000 in non-economic damages and $686,170 in loss of future earning capacity, according to the plaintiffs counsel.According to the statement, the baby's mother brought him to Shapiro because she was "'afraid that he might stop breathing during his sleep,'" the plaintiffs' pretrial statement said. Shapiro performed a sleep study and observed the baby's Apnea Hypopnea Index to be 43 — four times higher than what's considered severe. A tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy were performed.According to the plaintiffs, the baby's sleep study results put him at an increased risk for post-operative respiratory complications. Despite this, they argued in the statement, Shapiro ordered the pediatric nurses at the Harrisburg Hospital general pediatric ward to observe the boy as they would any other patients — about once every four hours.The pretrial statement said that one in four children who have an AHI in the 40s and oxygen desaturation below 80 have some type of respiratory problem. The younger the child, the greater the risk of a respiratory problem, the statement said.According to the statement, Shapiro took off the child's pulse oximeter, the finger-mounted device used to measure blood oxygen, and ordered a heart and respiratory rate monitor. The child was 11 months old at the time.The plaintiffs pled that the baby was last seen at 4 a.m. There was no record of his oxygen saturation for the next hour and 45 minutes. He stopped breathing a 6:40 a.m., and his brain was without oxygen long enough to cause demonstrable injury on an MRI."Immediately prior to his surgery, [the child] was a normal child, who could say mama, eat finger foods, and was just on the verge of walking," the statement said. "After his code, [he] was like a newborn. He could not lift his head or sit up. He could not talk. He could not move."In his pretrial statement, Shapiro argued that he recognized the child's pre-operative sleep study showed he was driven to breath by decreased blood oxygen saturation, which he said was typical in patients with obstructive sleep apnea.He argued the American Academy of Otolaryngology dictates that admission to the intensive care unit is not the standard of care. In the statement, he said nurses did not observe signs of respiratory distress. No alarms sounded until the child arrested, the statement said.He said the baby likely arrested as a result of hypoglycemia and/or an acute aspiration, which he argued would not have been identified by blood oxygen saturation.— Ben Present, of the Law Weekly
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$1,024,040.80 Auto Accidents
Scott Cooper settled a wrongful death case on behalf of the widow of a police office who was killed in a car accident in the line of duty for $1,024,040.80. The claim against the other driver was amicably resolved before suit was filed for the entire available policy limits for the other driver. The case took place in Adams County, PA.
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