Can Employees Receive Workers’ Compensation After an Old Injury Is Aggravated?

On The Job Injury Lawyer

If you suffer an injury at your current place of work, you will probably look into workers’ compensation quickly. What happens if you had a condition or injury to start with? What if you have an old injury and your new tasks aggravated it? Given how common this is, it’s important to know if you have a claim.

Pre-Existing Conditions Without Prior Claims

It’s not unusual for employees to have pre-existing conditions. Sometimes, these conditions happen naturally, through aging. In other circumstances, these conditions may be due to injuries sustained in an employee’s personal life. For example, if you used to play sports and suffer from a sports-related shoulder or arm injury, then you may end up aggravating the old injury at work.

If you have a pre-existing condition, it does not count you out in terms of whether or not you can receive workers’ compensation. Instead, you can still receive your benefits to account for how your situation became worse. You will have to have your doctor evaluate you to figure out if your job-related duties worsened your condition. You may want to see a doctor that is used to working with injured employees, because he or she will be able to use the language necessary to describe your condition. This is better when it comes to filing your claim.

Pre-Existing Conditions With Prior Claims

Have you filed for workers’ compensation before? Sometimes, a person will file a claim for an injury and then will injure the same area again later. Now, if you filed a claim for the same body part, you may see a reduction to the workers’ compensation claim. Now, your employer may still have to pay for all of your treatment. Still, you may only receive compensation for the increase in your impairment. In the case where you may have permanent damage, you can receive permanent partial disability.

Make sure that you talk to your doctor about the difference between aggravation of an old injury and a new injury that involves the same parts of your body. Your doctor will need full access to your records regarding your previous condition. It’s crucial to determine if you aggravated an old injury, if it’s getting worse or if you’re claiming a new injury.

If you have a pre-existing injury and it becomes worse at your current job, then you can still claim it. Any injuries or worsening condition that you suffer while you’re working your job could be covered under workers’ compensation. To receive peace of mind, contact a workers compensation attorney Brooklyn offers today to find out if you have a case.

Thanks to Polsky, Shouldice & Rosen, P.C. for their insight into workers compensation and old injuries.