An estimated 200 million people worldwide suffer from long COVID, according to some experts. It’s not clear why, but some people who get COVID-19 are left with lingering symptoms. They can range from mild to severe and include things like exhaustion, memory problems,...
COVID-19
Long-haul COVID-19 is becoming a bigger disability issue
The symptoms can be maddening. Your heart races for no reason. You’re exhausted and short of breath. You’re experiencing such brain fog that you can hardly get anything done. You may be unable to digest certain foods or tolerate heat. There’s deep joint and muscle...
OSHA fines Byron rehab facility alleging failure to follow COVID-19 rules
The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently inspected and fined a Byron, Illinois, rehabilitation and post-acute care facility for failing to adequately protect healthcare workers in violation of federal safety regulations. According to...
SSDI and SSI in the news
At our law firm, we represent injured or ill Illinoisans in their applications for or termination from Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Insurance (SSI) (and in workers’ compensation claims). Today we share a sample of current...
Chicago congressman urges SSA to focus on COVID long haulers
Eight months ago, we wrote in this space about COVID-19 long haulers – people who suffer sometimes debilitating symptoms for months after having been infected. In that post, we explained that for a person to meet the disability requirements of Social Security...
Interaction of Illinois workers’ compensation benefits and the COVID-19 vaccine, part 2
In part 1 of this post, we talked about Illinois workers’ compensation law and its potential interaction with the coronavirus-vaccine issues. Today we will talk about rare, severe side effects from the vaccine and other more tangential injuries for which employees may...
Part 1: Does workers’ compensation cover injury from a COVID-19 vaccine in Illinois?
In Illinois as of the date of this writing in August 2021, the issue falls into somewhat of a gray area. Scant legal precedent in the state exists to answer this question, but we will share some of our findings in this two-part post. Impact of state statute?...
COVID-19 in Illinois workplaces
As the number of vaccinated people continues to rise, more employers anticipate reopening and bringing employees back into the workplace. Unfortunately, we have all learned how contagious the coronavirus is and know that absolute protection is impossible. But...
Workers at risk of needlesticks during the COVID-19 vaccination campaign
As of this writing on April 17, the Chicago Tribune reports that officials say almost 8 million vaccine doses have been administered and almost 3.3 million people in Illinois are now fully vaccinated – that is about one-quarter of our population. In Winnebago County,...
