Law Office of Alan Tysinger

Medical Evidence and Treatment Records from Outside the Workers' Compensation System

Workers' compensation doctors-- especially network doctors-- are notoriously biased toward insurance carriers. So I am often asked about whether evidence procured outside the WC system is still admissible in a WC case. The answer is it is. It can & should be used by a claims adjuster in paying benefits.... Read more →

Burn Injuries and Texas Workers' Compensation Law

This case illustrates the potential hazards of working in the oil and gas industry in West Texas. The report is that one person was seriously injured in an explosion and fire involving storage tanks and a truck in oil field operations. In Texas, and employer is not required to carry... Read more →

Texas' most dangerous employers by incidents of severe injuries

OSHA, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, tracks on the job injuries and records their severity. A recent report in the San Antonio news reflected this information for the last few years and found several notable employers with frequent severe injuries. The time period involved was 2015-2018. More than 6,000... Read more →

Legal Issues in Mental Health Claims Continued (Part IV): Repetitive Mental Trauma

(4) Repetitive Mental Trauma As discussed above, repetitive mental trauma injuries are not covered as compensable under the Workers' Compensation Act. However, this does create an apparent loophole in the system, in which actions that are arising out of the employment resulting in injury to an employee are tortious, but... Read more →

Legal Issues in Mental Health Claims Continued (Part III): Mental Trauma: TBI and Direct and Natural Result, or “Follow On” Injuri

(2) Traumatic Brain Injuries Traumatic brain injuries give rise to psychiatric diagnoses, but because of their origin in organic brain injuries they are not included in typical discussions of mental trauma, which are based not on the field of medical specialty involved, such as psychiatric care, but rather on whether... Read more →

Legal Issues in Mental Health Claims Continued (Part II): PTSD

(B) Mental Trauma Injuries (1) Post Traumatic Stress Post traumatic stress disorder is the classic mental trauma injury, by definition arising out of a single event and typically connected with a shocking event or circumstance that causes those involved in the claims process to recoil. But at the margins, PTSD... Read more →

LEGAL ISSUES IN MENTAL HEALTH CLAIMS Part 1: History of Legal Analysis and Compensability

In discussing the subject of mental illness as it relates to workers' compensation, I find the following thought experiment to be very fruitful. Imagine that you are assigned the following task. Though you have no debilitating physical injury or illness, you must do the following: 1) Leave your job, live... Read more →

First Responder Cancer Claims: Basics of Presumption

Proving a medical diagnosis in an occupational disease case is difficult in any case because of the many environmental, genetic, and other factors which may contribute to the development of a medical condition. The Texas legislature has aimed to streamline this process for first responders who are battling cancers that... Read more →

When to hire an injury lawyer: Filing the claim

After an injury occurs, I don’t always recommend that someone hire an attorney. However, it is always important to at least consult with an attorney to determine if it would be wise to have an attorney representing you during the process. Often the injured party thinks that because the facts... Read more →

Causation: In Depth Survey of the Case Law

CAUSATION INTRODUCTION It has always firmly been the burden of the claimant to prove that the connection between damage or harm to the physical structure of the body and the event or activities that occurred within the course and scope of employment in order to prevail in establishing a compensable... Read more →