An Attorney’s Opinion on Workers’ Comp for Neck Injuries

A serious neck injury can have a lifelong impact on an individual’s ability to earn a living and lead a normal life. Although some neck injuries are minor and recovery is quick, in severe cases, surgery may be required and recovery may take months, years or result in a permanent impairment. One of the problems with neck injuries is that early after an injury it can be hard to tell the difference.

Common Causes of Neck Injuries

Each injury is unique, but the certified specialists at Schiffman Law Office, P.C., regularly see all types of neck injuries, including those resulting from repetitive motion, specific incidents that cause trauma to the neck, and aggravations of a pre-existing neck impairment.

Why Insurance Companies Often Deny Coverage

Part of the reason insurers will deny coverage is that it’s often difficult for the injured worker to explain the source of their pain. Pain may actually be in the arm or upper back and not the neck because of damage to a cervical (neck) disk. Also, some injured workers may delay seeking medical treatment because of the mistaken belief that the pain will go away.

Insurance companies may also deny coverage for neck injuries, seeking any possible defense, because of the company realizes that the potential medical costs and lost wages may be quite significant. To support the carrier’s position the insurance company will often send the injured worker to a doctor who it knows typically renders a diagnosis in its favor to support a claim the injury was not work-related.

How to Proceed

Seek medical treatment immediately. If your employer sends you to a doctor it chooses, make sure to also seek an opinion from a doctor of your choice. And seek follow-up care under a doctor you choose (so long as your employer doesn’t have a plan approved by the Industrial Commission of Arizona that restricts that right). Understand that injuries can develop over time and injuries that aggregate an existing condition may be covered under workers’ compensation.

Contact a Phoenix Workers’ Comp Lawyer for Legal Advice

Fully Understand Your Injury and Get the Compensation You Deserve.

Contact the Workers’ Compensation Specialists at Schiffman Law Today