Post traumatic stress disorder

Published on: September 23, 2021

An Open Letter to Our Injured Clients

Dear Injured Client,
We want you to know that we are here for you. We feel your pain from your physical or psychological injury. We feel your anxiety and emotional worry about how you will be able to work. We know you wake up at night worried about how you will take care of your family, yourself, buy goods, pay your bills and recover.

Your injuries may wake you up at night and keep you from sleeping; they may be there when you lash out in anger at your spouse, partner, friend, or child.

You are not alone. The US Dept of Veterans estimated 15 million people suffer from PTSD and emotional injuries this year alone. Post traumatic stress disease dwells in your body and it’s difficult to treat. It is an unseen condition. Fighters who have seen the worst in man, witnessing war, killing and bomb blasts have a difficult time returning to a normal society. It is a disease and it needs to be healed. The medical resources for it are insufficient. You may feel that you are battling alone and that you are out of place in this new world. PTSD is not like an arm wound where you look down and see how it is healing. With PTSD, you have to try to reduce your mental suffering and it’s difficult to figure out if you are succeeding. Know you are not alone.

UNADJUSTEDNONRAW_thumb_646d-e1632415348234-300x218 Our goal: We seek to get your treatment. The treatment can include medication, psychological care, and settlement funds to return you to gainful employment. We apply for benefits for you through filing an LS 203 if your injury is under the Defense Base Act.

Never give up hope. Our prayer for you is that you identify your injuries, know which are physical and which are psychological, acknowledge you need help, find help, get the treatment you need, get better, seek a settlement, use the funds to go proudly forward. Know we are by your side as we lead you through the uncertainty.

The path is strewn with difficulty. The insurance companies may label you a malingerer, they will deny you benefits, they will attack your memory. Do not doubt yourself. We are well positioned to work for you. We fight for you while you focus on your return to health and work.
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Published on: December 8, 2020

Statute of Limitations Under the Defense Base Act

By Jo Ann Hoffman & Associates, P.A.

hourglass-2910948_1920-300x200 Did you know that there exists time period in which you must file your Defense Base Act claim in order to be eligible for compensation checks? Have you been told by an adjuster from one of the infamous insurance companies like Gallagher Bassett or AIG that your “statute has run”? In reality, your statute may not have expired at all! As an initial matter, there exists no time limit for medical treatment. This means that even if you had your injury 20 years ago, you are still eligible to file a claim for medical treatment! Medical treatment is never time barred (unless you settle your claim for a lump sum of money, then your medical claim usually closes forever).

There exists TWO statutes of limitations in the Defense Base Act: Sections 912 and 913.

Section 912 of the LHWCA/DBA provides that notice of an injury or death must be given within 30 days after injury or death, or within 30 days after the employee or beneficiary is aware of, or in the exercise of reasonable diligence or by reason of medical advice should have been aware of, a relationship between the injury or death and the employment. With respect to occupational diseases, such as mental injuries and PTSD, the statute provides for notice within one (1) year. PTSD is often classified as an occupational disease. Section 912 is the “nicer” statute, as there are several ways to get around it, including showing that the insurance company was not “prejudiced” (hurt) by the failure to timely file. We have won several cases by arguing that there was no harm! No harm, no foul as the saying goes.

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Published on: July 2, 2020

Psychological Injuries under the Defense Base Act

By Jo Ann Hoffman & Associates, P.A.

Attorneys Jo Ann Hoffman & Associates is often tasked with helping individuals involved in terrorist or other violent attacks in places like Afghanistan or Iraq under the Defense Base Act. Indeed, our firm represented numerous contractors injured in the Al-Asad airbase attack by Iran in January 2020 as retaliation for the killing of Soleimani. The insurance carriers are accepting the vast majority of these Al-Asad airbase attack claims due to the wide media coverage.

From experiencing car bombings (VBIED’s) to being a victim of mortar and rocket attacks, these traumatic experiences can cause serious negative effects throughout the rest of the victim’s life. It is important for your Defense Base Act claim to properly label your injuries so that you are not limited later on the case.

What is a Psychological Injury?

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Published on: February 20, 2019

Settlement Considerations for Foreign Defense Base Act Workers

By Jo Ann Hoffman & Associates, P.A.

Free consultation!

Our firm represents many foreign workers injured in War Zones. They were working for American contractors who flew them from their homes in different countries including Peru, Colombia, and Honduras to serve as security guards in the war zones to help our Military. These security guards serve alongside our US Military soldiers and sustain injuries in these war zones including psychological injuries. PTSD stands for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. It is a diagnosis for psychological injuries that the some of the guards suffered. If a guard believes he has suffered psychological injuries, he must take certain actions.

Before a guard can file an injury, he must seek medical care on his own in his own country with a medical doctor. He has one year from the time of that medical report which links his psychological condition to his employment in the war zone to file a worker’s compensation claim in the federal courts in the United States of America.

The medical report will have to be translated to English so that the people who read it can understand it. The employer’s attorney may schedule a defense medical examination with a doctor of their choice. If that report is favorable for the injured worker, then he has a better chance of winning his claim for his psychological injury being related to his employment.

But what will happen if he does win his case? He will receive past money, but it still does not require the employer nor its carrier to pay out a lump sum settlement. A lump sum settlement can only be entered in if the two parties come to an agreement on a number to settle the claim. If that occurs the injured worker gives up his right to receive both medical care and lost wages related to that injury in the future.

This firm always has the insurance company pay its attorneys fees and costs separately from the money awarded to the injured person.

It is very important to us that an injured person understand how a case proceeds and what action they can take to make the case better.

First, they need to determine if they have any of the symptoms that usually go along with Post-traumatic stress disorder. Next, they need to see the doctor on several occasions and undergo proper treatment to document the severity of their injuries. Simply stated, a person who sees the doctor several times for treatment would expected to be more injured than someone who sees a doctor one time.

With respect to knowing how much they should settle the case for the foreign worker needs to understand he will not be allowed to enter the United States to appear in front of the judge. Our immigration laws to not allow this. Therefore, the judge will have to make a decision based on the record evidence before him which usually includes depositions. From the time a claim is filed until a Judge rules takes about 18 months.

Not all cases are won. The judge can find the claimant is not credible and there could be an unfavorable opinion rendered by the Judge and based on the defense attorneys’ doctor that the judge accepts. Even if the case is won, the defense attorney can appeal the decision causing an additional on year approval. Continue reading →