I initially injured myself (ankle, similar to Ali's misstep) at the women's gym that employed me, and they had no workman's compensation (which by law, they should have had). That injury turned into one ankle/foot problem after another. My orthopedist suggested I not pursue a claim because it would tax me emotionally. However, I had no personal health insurance and by law, workman's comp (via my employers) should have been paying my medical bills. I didn't sue, but filed a claim with the Workman's Comp Appeals Board when my employer let me go after I refused to sign a document releasing him of all further liability. My RSD emerged following surgery on that ankle, but my neurologist said that sometimes RSD doesn't emerge for 2 and a half years after an injury, and it could have begun with the injury or with the surgery--that we couldn't know for sure. In any case, that was 2003 and the case drags on. The absolute worst part was how emotionally taxing it has been. My former employers hired a bulldog of an attorney who was vicious at the deposition and equally vicious in supplementary accusatory letters. Honestly, I felt sad that he would sell his soul for money and wondered how he sleeps at night or even lives with himself. It's not like I wasn't in enough pain already, but that attorney made things hellish. The pain of injury multiplying for a year and a half and finally turning into visible RSD post-surgery was too much to deal with already. Had it not been for my supportive family, I wouldn't have survived the legal battle. Most recently, my attorney sent me to a state qualified medical examiner whose report assigned me a 5% physical disability (my RSD is held at bay via Lyrica and continual exercise plus a host of other things i've tried in order to help myself). It looks as if I may have a chance to recover four and a half years of medical bills, but still it's not for sure. Who knows what their attorney will come up with next. But my original orthopedist was right: it's almost not worth the emotional stress of a legal battle unless you have amazing fortitude, amazing support, and a lot of extra energy. I guess you just have to weigh the gains with the costs. I would never have filed a claim had my former employers not been so unwilling to accept responsibility. I liked them too much. I learned what they were really like and felt I needed to stand up for myself, as hard as it is to stand on an ankle/foot with RSD. Truly emotionally taxing, and I am certain that emotional taxation didn't help the RSD at all. There's no easy answer.