AGGRAVATION INJURY AND WORKERS COMPENSATION

Law Offices of Adam Baron Defends Coral Springs & Surrounding Areas

Encountering an accident or illness at work is a devastating and difficult situation to overcome. Without our jobs, we cannot pay our bills or support our families. Fortunately, the workers’ compensation system provides recourse to employees who are hurt on the job in the form of workers’ compensation benefits payments. Navigating this process can be especially difficult due to its complex rules and the insurance companies that are in charge of determining the amount of benefits to which you are entitled. Experienced workers’ compensation attorney Adam Baron has assisted Coral Springs residents and other individuals in pursuing a settlement after suffering a debilitating job-related injury.

What is the Workers Compensation Process for Re-Aggravated Injury?

After suffering an accident or illness at work, the first thing you should do is report it to your employer so that it can initiate a claim with its workers’ compensation insurance company. After the claim is opened, the first thing the insurer will likely do is ask you to submit to a medical examination from a pre-approved doctor. This examination will guide the insurer in determining the nature and extent of your injuries, which in turn shapes the amount of workers’ comp benefits that you are awarded.

Many insurance companies may attempt to deny a claim based on a preexisting condition even when the condition is not related to the job-related injury that gave rise to a claim for workers’ compensation benefits. In this scenario, the burden of proof is on the injured worker to show that he or she experienced a compensable work-related injury that constituted an aggravation of a preexisting condition. If a preexisting injury is involved in a claim for benefits, the condition is compensable only if the work-related accident or illness is the major contributing cause of the claim for benefits.

What is Aggravation of a Preexisting Injury?

The definition of a re-aggravated injury is any pre-existing condition that is worsened in an individual due to working conditions. A preexisting injury is one of the most important considerations for the insurance company and the medical examiner.

What is the Definition of a Preexisting Injury?

According to Florida law, a preexisting injury is defined as a condition, disorder, congenital abnormality, disease, or occupational disease that the worker experienced before the claimed injury took place, and that also contributed to the claimed work injury. The law provides that the preexisting condition must have contributed substantially to the work-related incident. It cannot simply render the worker more susceptible to injury or the need for treatment.

An employer is only liable for the worsening of your preexisting condition and is not required to compensate you for any symptoms or conditions arising from the situation as it existed when you began working for the employer.

Contact a Coral Springs Work Accident Attorney