MRI Or X-Ray: Pascagoula Shoulder Injury Lawyer

Warning: a Pascagoula shoulder injury lawyer sees this exact missing scan sink claim after claim. A Pascagoula shoulder injury workers comp lawyer has watched the same missing test sink claim after claim. Not a missing surgery, not a missing symptom, a missing scan, the one image that actually shows whether a tendon tore all the way through or just got sore. Without it, your shoulder claim gets valued as a strain no matter what your arm actually feels like.

Here is what the adjuster is hoping you never ask for. A plain X-ray shows bone. It cannot show a torn rotator cuff, because a tendon is soft tissue and simply does not appear on that kind of image. Only an MRI, and often specifically an MRI arthrogram, can confirm a full-thickness tear. A carrier that never orders one, and instead settles off an X-ray reading “no fracture, mild strain,” is not describing your shoulder. It is describing the only picture it chose to take.

The Law Behind A Shoulder Injury Claim

Miss. Code Ann. Section 71-3-7(1) is the entry requirement, an injury arising out of and in the course of employment. A shoulder injury is generally nonscheduled under Section 71-3-17(c)(25), paying 66-2/3% of the actual wage-loss differential for up to 450 weeks, unless the injury results in amputation at or above the joint connecting to a scheduled member, which is a rare and separate situation. Most torn rotator cuffs fall squarely under the nonscheduled category, and that category pays based on real, ongoing wage loss, not a flat number.

The Second A Patient’s Weight Shifted At Singing River

She’s repositioning a patient alone on a night shift at Singing River’s Pascagoula hospital, no second set of hands available, the patient shifting weight unexpectedly mid-turn. She catches the full load with her right arm extended, feeling something give at the top of her shoulder, a hot tearing sensation she tries to work through for the rest of the shift because the floor is short-staffed and someone has to cover the patients. Under Section 71-3-17(c)(25), if that shoulder is genuinely torn and not just strained, the benefit follows her actual wage loss, potentially for years, not the few weeks a settlement mill assumes for every shoulder claim regardless of severity.

The Missing Scan That Keeps A Torn Shoulder Coded As A Sprain

Here is the part the carrier hopes you never notice. An X-ray read of “no acute findings” sounds reassuring, and it is technically accurate, because an X-ray was never capable of showing a rotator cuff tear in the first place. A full-thickness tear requires an MRI arthrogram to confirm, and a carrier that authorizes only the cheaper X-ray, then treats “no acute findings” as proof the shoulder is fine, is exploiting a gap between what was tested and what actually needed testing. Push for the MRI. A sprain heals in weeks. A confirmed tear often does not heal without surgery, and the two claims are not worth the same amount of money.

Apportionment On A Shoulder With Years Of Overhead Work

Under Section 71-3-7(2), a pre-existing shoulder condition can reduce the benefit by the proportion medical findings show it contributed, but under Section 71-3-7(3)(a), that reduction cannot be applied until maximum medical recovery, and under Section 71-3-7(3)(b), only an administrative judge decides the percentage, never the insurance company alone. A nurse with years of routine lifting in her work history does not forfeit her claim to that history. She forfeits only what a judge, not an adjuster, actually finds it contributed.

The Two Deadlines That End A Shoulder Claim Early

Miss. Code Ann. Section 71-3-35 sets both deadlines together. Notice to the employer is due within 30 days. Regardless of notice, if no compensation is paid and no application is filed with the Commission within 2 years of the injury date, the claim is barred permanently. A worker who keeps working through shoulder pain, assuming it will resolve on its own, can burn a meaningful part of that clock before the injury is ever formally reported.

The Carrier’s Doctor Versus An MRI-Confirmed Tear

The carrier’s Independent Medical Examiner sees the worker once, frequently working from the same limited X-ray the carrier originally authorized, and produces a report calling the shoulder a resolved strain. A treating orthopedist who actually ordered the MRI, confirmed the tear, and recommended surgery is the answer to that report. Mississippi law allows a carrier’s IME finding to be challenged in front of the Commission, using that confirmed imaging as the evidence a rushed X-ray never provided.

What Your TV Lawyer Has Never Argued In The Jackson County Courthouse

Contested hearings for Pascagoula claims happen at the Jackson County Circuit Court, 3104 Magnolia Street. Has the billboard lawyer ever argued a scheduled member dispute or a nonscheduled valuation fight in front of a judge there, explaining the medical difference between a strain and a confirmed tear? I have never seen his name on a docket in that building fighting for the imaging a shoulder claim actually needs to be valued correctly.

Every workers’ compensation attorney in Mississippi takes cases on contingency, no fee unless you recover. Under the Foster Fair Fee Guarantee, you will always net more money than I take in fees, in writing, before we start. I take $0.00 out of your TTD check. Not a percentage, not a fee wearing an administrative-cost disguise. That check replaces two-thirds of your paycheck while your shoulder heals or waits on surgery, and I have never once taken a cut of it. Ask the billboard lawyer’s secretary the same question and listen for how fast the call ends.

For the full statutory language governing nonscheduled disability benefits, see Miss. Code Ann. Section 71-3-17 on Justia. For related reading, see the Pascagoula Workers’ Compensation Lawyer hub and the Pascagoula Legal Services page.

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Warning: Thousands Of Jackson County Workers Are Lifting On A Torn Shoulder Right Now

Warning, this is not a rare situation. This is what happens on nearly every shoulder file that comes through a volume operation. Same pattern, different name on the folder every time. Ask yourself if it would matter whether your surgeon actually confirmed a diagnosis with imaging before operating. Ask yourself if it would matter whether your dentist actually took an X-ray before pulling the wrong tooth. Ask yourself if it would matter whether the lawyer valuing your torn shoulder actually knew the difference between what an X-ray shows and what an MRI shows.

He has never demanded an MRI arthrogram on a client’s behalf. He has never argued a nonscheduled shoulder valuation before a judge. He has never cross-examined a carrier’s IME doctor on the limits of a plain X-ray. A billboard settles this exact injury the same way every time, off the same incomplete imaging, because pushing for the right test costs time a high-volume operation is not built to spend. Here is the twist that should bother you most. The insurance company’s own adjusters know precisely which local lawyers push for the MRI and which ones settle off the X-ray, and they price every offer accordingly before you ever see a number on paper.

Pascagoula Shoulder Injury: Questions Answered Straight

My Pascagoula X-Ray Came Back Clean After A Shoulder Injury At Work. Does That Mean I Only Have A Strain?

Not necessarily. An X-ray shows bone, not tendons, and a rotator cuff tear is a soft-tissue injury that a plain X-ray cannot detect at all. Only an MRI, often specifically an MRI arthrogram, can confirm a full-thickness tear. If your shoulder still hurts significantly after an X-ray reading of no acute findings, push for the MRI before accepting any settlement offer.

I Work At Singing River And Kept Working Through Shoulder Pain Before Reporting It. Did I Hurt My Pascagoula Claim?

It can complicate things, but it does not automatically defeat your claim. Mississippi requires notice to your employer within 30 days of the injury, so report it as soon as possible once you recognize the connection. A treating physician’s documentation connecting the ongoing pain to the specific workplace incident is what actually protects the claim at this point.

The Carrier’s Doctor Called My Pascagoula Shoulder Injury A Simple Strain. What If My Own Doctor Disagrees?

Your own treating orthopedist’s findings, especially if backed by MRI imaging showing a confirmed tear, are the answer to a carrier’s IME report. That IME doctor was selected and paid by the insurance company and often works from incomplete imaging. Mississippi law allows you to challenge an IME finding in front of the Commission using your treating physician’s more complete record.

Can Years Of Overhead Lifting Before My Injury Be Used To Reduce My Pascagoula Shoulder Claim?

It can be raised as an apportionment argument, but the insurance company does not decide the percentage. Mississippi law requires actual medical findings establishing how much a pre-existing condition contributed, and only an administrative judge makes that final call, subject to Commission review. A history of physical work reduces, it does not eliminate, a genuine new tear.

How Long Do I Have To File A Shoulder Injury Claim With The Commission After A Pascagoula Work Accident?

Two years from the date of injury, regardless of whether the carrier has paid anything toward your claim, with employer notice due within 30 days. Workers who wait to see if a shoulder heals on its own before reporting it sometimes lose meaningful time off that two-year clock without realizing it.

P.S. The insurance company already knows an X-ray cannot see a torn tendon. You are not supposed to know it too. Get my free book before you accept a strain diagnosis as the final word, and find out which scan actually shows what happened to your shoulder.

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