A medical secretary at a large health insurance company, who was exposed to the traumatic death of a patient while working, will receive a huge compensation of approximately 800,000 shekels - after a long battle with the National Insurance Institute. The woman is represented by attorney Ido Penn.
The incident occurred when a patient, who was waiting in the clinic's waiting room, asked the secretary to see the doctor immediately. The secretary contacted the doctor several times, but was told to leave the patient to wait his turn.
According to her, while waiting, the patient turned back and forth, breathing heavily and clutching his chest. As soon as he was finally about to enter the doctor's room, he suddenly collapsed on the floor and apparently experienced cardiac arrest. The secretary, who was first to his side, witnessed the team's struggle to save his life, and even assisted in some of the resuscitation operations, but these attempts were in vain - and he died on the clinic floor before her eyes.
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According to Attorney Penn, following the incident, the woman began to suffer from severe and ongoing mental symptoms. She developed an intense fear of leaving her home, began to neglect herself and her surroundings, expressed a deep sense of despair, suffered from severe sleep disorders, tended to burst into tears easily, experienced frequent anxiety attacks, lost the desire to perform basic daily tasks, and even performed impulsive actions such as shaving her head.
According to him, these phenomena significantly affected her ability to function at work and in social settings.
After her mental deterioration, the woman turned to a lawyer, who submitted a request on her behalf to the National Insurance Institute (NII) to recognize the incident as a work accident, and to recognize her as a work injury victim - and that is what happened.
But the National Security Council medical committee, which convened to consider her case, determined that she had a very low level of mental disability - citing a "pre-existing medical condition.".
From a review of her medical record, the committee found that the woman had suffered from temporary depression several years before the incident following the death of her mother. According to the committee members, this condition may explain her mental deterioration, although the death itself undoubtedly contributed to this deterioration. For this reason, the committee decided to deduct the effect of the previous condition from her mental disability, and set her disability rate directly caused by the work accident at only 5% - a rate that does not entitle her to real compensation.
In her distress, the woman turned to Attorney Ido Penn, who filed an appeal on her behalf with the Appeals Committee at the National Medical Council. As part of the appeal, Attorney Penn presented a medical opinion that claimed that there was no connection between the minor depressive episode that the woman experienced following her mother's death and the post-traumatic state that she developed due to the shocking death of the patient at the clinic, which haunts her to this day, while she feels heavy feelings of guilt about it.
In addition, Attorney Penn presented the Appeals Committee with updated data regarding the woman's mental state, including expert reports describing the impact of the traumatic event on her daily routine.
After conducting an in-depth discussion on the issue, the Appeals Committee decided that there was no real basis for reducing the disability percentage due to a "pre-existing condition" and increased the woman's disability to 20%.
According to Attorney Penn, the increase in the disability rate provided the woman with a one-time grant of approximately 50,000 shekels and a fixed monthly pension for the rest of her life.
According to him, the total compensation that the woman will receive will certainly exceed 800,000 shekels.
Adv. Penn clarifies that many in the public are unaware that the decisions of the National Insurance Institute are not final, and it is recommended in any case of doubt to consult with lawyers who are experienced in the field, and if necessary, to fight them and appeal.
The National Insurance Institute is an institution whose sole purpose is to assist people who have lost their ability to support themselves, says Attorney Penn. "There is nothing wrong with fighting for the recognition of these rights, while increasing the benefit paid from the National Insurance Fund.".
