If you are injured at work in Florida and your employer carries required workers' compensation insurance coverage, any claim you make for medical expenses and other compensation for your injury will likely be addressed under a complex system of laws unique to this context. One issue that often arises during the course of workers' compensation claims is whether an individual should be able to obtain compensation for medical expenses where there is some potential overlap with a pre-existing medical condition, such as arthritis. For example, what happens if you have arthritis in your knee before an accident, and then injure your knee while at work? Assuming that your knee was functional and your were able to work before the accident, should it matter to your workers' compensation claim that you had arthritis in the knee before the accident? It turns out that it can matter a lot.
Clearwater-area workers' compensation attorney Scott Marshall has authored an informative article addressing this issue. You can view the article here, and it is well worth the read: https://clearwater.legalexaminer.com/legal/wrongful-death/florida-workers-comp-major-contributing-cause-how-doctors-get-it-wrong/. As Mr. Marshall explains in the article, many workers' compensation doctors -- who make a living offering opinions in workers' compensation cases, often at the behest of insurance companies -- will attempt to assist the employer in avoiding responsibility for compensating injured workers by blaming the worker's medical care on pre-existing conditions, even when the pre-existing conditions were asymptomatic before the work-related accident.
If you or a loved one have been injured on the job, it is important to hire an experienced, aggressive workers' compensation attorney who can help you navigate the legal process and obtain proper compensation. Learn more about Clearwater workers' compensation attorney Scott Marshall here.