Pre-Existing Conditions

For the purposes of obtaining Boston workers’ compensation benefits, a workplace injury must be a major cause of the employee’s disability, pursuant to Massachusetts General Laws Section 1, Title XXI, Chapter 152, Section 1 (7A). Under the statute, it is possible to obtain workers’ compensation benefits for a pre-existing condition that was aggravated by an on-the-job injury or work-related illness.

There is certain evidence that will aid your experienced Boston workers’ compensation attorney in demonstrating that the employee’s workplace injury was a major cause in the current incapacitating condition. Some helpful pieces of evidence are as follows:

• Emergency room records from the injury – these records may establish that the employee had an on-the-job injury. Often times an injured worker will go to the emergency room after an incident and report they were injured on the job. The insurance company will have to refute that the employee’s workplace accident was a major cause, so these records will help the employee.
• Continuing treatment records – a complete set of medical records showing all follow-up care and rehabilitation can show the employee’s workplace injury was a major cause of his or her incapacity.
• A gap in treatment – normally, a gap in treatment in a personal injury case is not good. However, in a workers’ compensation case involving a pre-existing condition, a gap in treatment between when the injury occurred and prior treatment may help to establish that the employee did not need treatment until suffering an at-work injury. This can show the injury was a major cause.
• Employment Records – an employee’s personnel file can help to establish the duties an employee has as part of their work, and whether those duties may have acted as a major cause of the employee’s current disability.

If a workers’ compensation insurance company denies your claim arguing your injuries and disability are due to a pre-existing condition, hire our team of lawyers immediately.

Contact the Jeffrey Glassman Injury Lawyers today for a free and confidential consultation.