Attorneys for the maritime worker
since 1970

March 2018

Does Your Doctor Understand Your Job?

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If you are being treated for an injury make sure your doctor understands the physical demands of your sea going job. The Department of Labor classifies merchant marine work as “heavy” labor. The US Coast Guard requires overhead lifting of at least 50 pounds, the ability to climb ladders and participate in life saving drills, amongst other things. Treating physicians are often unfamiliar with how rigorous the job is and will make you fit for duty without understanding the physical demands of your job. This can have an impact on your claim, but more importantly it can subject you to further injury or put other crewmembers at risk of injury. Make sure to educate your doctor!

Question From The Bridge

I sustained a back injury on my job as an AB. My doctor said I was okay to go back to work but I can’t lift more than about 35 or 40 lbs without quite a bit of pain? How do they expect me to do my job at sea?
Eddie A. New Orleans

Answer:
Your doctor obviously is not familiar with the minimum job requirements of an AB. If it is not too late, suggest that you provide him with the Coast Guard job description (including weight lifting requirements) so that he can better understand your job requirements. Your job is not a light or medium job, it is clearly one with heavy and strenuous demands

The Law Offices of Cavin and Marks, Jr.
428 Alice St., Suite 128
Oakland, CA 94607

About Our Law Firm

For more than four decades, merchant mariners, longshoremen, fishermen and harbor workers plying their trades at sea, on the docks, on our U.S. coastal waters and inland waterways have turned to the maritime law firm of Law Offices of Cavin and Marks, Jr. & Associates in Oakland. Today, we are proud to be recognized as one of the preeminent maritime law firms serving injured marine workers nationwide, as well as one of the most successful personal injury litigation firms serving victims of negligence in the San Francisco Bay Area and throughout the West Coast.

Team Approach To Every Personal Injury And Jones Act Claim

When you retain Law Offices of Cavin and Marks, Jr. & Associates for a Jones Act injury claim, or personal injury claim, you don’t get just one attorney, you get our entire team of dedicated professionals. Our attorneys offer more than 150 combined years of courtroom and negotiated claims settlement experience. We will represent your interests with unwavering dedication, speed and expertise.