What if My Injury Was Not Immediately Noticeable?
Workers’ compensation insurance covers all work injuries, regardless of whether they immediately show symptoms, but if your diagnosis was delayed, there is room for your employer to question whether a pre-existing condition was the cause of the injury.
All injuries sustained by workers while they are at work, doing their jobs, are eligible for coverage by the employer’s workers’ compensation insurance. It is easiest to understand how workers’ comp works when considering the simplest cases, where an employee suffers an accidental traumatic injury in the workplace, gets treatment through workers’ comp, and eventually makes a full recovery and returns to his or her same job. From a legal perspective, workers’ comp covers all work-related injuries and occupational diseases, not just obviously painful accidental injuries witnessed by your coworkers. Unfortunately, injuries that do not suddenly begin to show symptoms after a noticeable mishap at work leave more room for interpretation by doctors about how they happened. For help filing a workers’ comp claim related to a repetitive strain injury or occupational disease, contact an Omaha workers’ compensation lawyer.
Workers’ Compensation is Not Just for Acute Injuries
Health issues other than acute injuries can be compensable under workers’ comp laws if they happen as a direct result of your work. For example, repetitive strain injuries are a common diagnosis in workers’ comp claims by workers who spend long hours operating a machine or typing on a computer; carpal tunnel syndrome is one type of repetitive strain injury. With repetitive strain injuries, the symptoms appear gradually and worsen over time. You should report a workers’ comp claim as soon as you receive a diagnosis of a repetitive strain injury.
Occupational diseases are also compensable. The list of occupational diseases varies from one occupation to another. For example, some types of cancer count as occupational diseases for firefighters whose work brings them into contact with carcinogenic substances used to put out fires. Clinical anxiety can even be an occupational disease for workers whose jobs involve inherently stressful situations, such as emergency room nurses.
Proving That Your Injuries are Compensable
When you report a workers’ comp claim about an occupational disease or work-related chronic pain, the workers’ comp doctors may try to come up with excuses about how something other than work caused your symptoms. A workers’ comp lawyer can help you dispute a denied claim or request a change of treating physician.
Contact Andres Law Offices, PC LLO, About Workers’ Compensation Claims
An Omaha workers’ compensation lawyer can help you if your work injury is invisible and if it gradually got worse until you filed your claim. Contact Andres Law Offices, PC LLO in Omaha, Nebraska, about your case.