Minnesota Work Comp
In any Minnesota workers’ compensation case, the injured worker bears the burden of proving a work related injury. This is not always easy to do if there is no evidence corroborating the injured worker’s story and facts of the case. After a work injury it is important to keep in mind the following:
Seek Treatment
It is important that your first seek medical treatment after an injury. By seeking medical treatment you are not only getting treatment but you are also creating a paper trail by allowing a medical professional to document your history of the incident, injury and symptoms. These initial notes from the medical professionals can be pertinent to whether an insurance company accepts or denies your case.
Disclose your Medical History
At the time of an examination either the doctor or a staff member will ask you a series of questions concerning your past medical history. Be honest. Often times the workers’ compensation insurer will request your past medical records and will know whether you have had problems in the past. Remember most people at one point or another have had prior injuries or problems resulting in medical treatment. When an employer hires a Minnesota employee they take that employee as they find them. Which means they take them with all their prior problems. If a work injury further aggravates, accelerates or worsens your pre-existing condition that work injury is compensable. Make sure you disclose any prior problems along with any new or additional symptoms or problems you may have so the treating physician can document it accordingly.
Describe how the Injury Occurred along with the Symptoms
I am going to make this one simple. Tell your doctor what happened. If you tell the truth the first time, you won’t have tell it again. Along with the injury tell the doctor where and what type of symptoms you are having. My recommendation would be to be honest but don’t embellish your symptoms.
Don’t forget to disclose all injured body parts. Sometimes doctors will only take care of the main injury (bleeding, most painful, etc) and they forget to deal with the other injuries. Make sure the doctors are documenting all the injured body parts even if they appear to be minor at the time you are seen. This is not exaggerating, instead, it is documenting in case those “minor” injuries get worse in the near future.
Disclose the Specifics of your Work Activities
Often times we assume someone knows what we do as a profession when we say we work as a mechanic, machinist, laborer, etc. This is not always the case. Your doctor may not have a clear understanding of what you do at work. This could have a drastic impact on whether a doctor allows you to return to work with or without restrictions. Make sure the doctor knows what you do and the physical requirements of that job.
If you are in need of legal represenation, please feel free to contact me through my website or email me.
