[joyfulvictory]

hi my name is joyfulvictory and I'm new to this site. this is my first post. I have a workers comp question. 2009 while working for a grocery store I was hauling and ordering meat, overseeing that department. I woke up one morning with sharp pain on my lower right side of my back turns out I had herniated 3 discs in my lumbar spine. I couldn't pin point the time of injury, as this pain came on gradually. I went to my regular doctor and he sent me to a spine doctor. I asked him about workers comp and he said that because the injury didn't happen while I was working, that I wasn't able to file for work comp. 6 years later I am still dealing with herniated discs. I've got degenerative disc disease, spinal stenosis, neuropathy in my legs, complex regional pain syndrome on my right foot and incontinence/retention. All these years my husband's insurance has always been really great but now thanks to health reform I can't afford treatment any more. This is what triggered me looking in to work comp. I've always felt that my injury was from work and shouldn't have believed that doctor about having to prove exactly when I injured. California has a one year statute of limitations so obviously I'm about five years too late. This latest flare started in January but I've never filled out any incident reports with my employer. I've been trying to hire a lawyer to discuss options but so far no lawyers are interested in helping. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

[lefthanded]

You do not say if you are with the same employer, or doing the same work you did when you first discovered your herniated discs. And it is true, you have missed the statute by a mile. Unless California W/C has provisions for spinal/back injuries falling under "occupational disease" and allowing filing following a period of exposure to work which brought on the condition, your options are limited. Even then, you have a limited time in which to report that you have learned an injury or disease is work related. Has a doctor at any time indicated that your condition is or could be work related?

Can you elaborate as to why the spinal specialist felt your herniated discs were not work related? Did anything else occur during the period before your diagnosis, like a car accident, slip and fall, etc., that would put into question how you herniated your discs? I am puzzled that you did not just report the injury to your employer. Have you had further aggravations of your injury (more or worsening of the herniations) caused by work?

Yours is a complex case, compounded by untimely reporting or failure to act within the statutory periods for securing benefits. The fact that you can not find an attorney who will readily take up your case is an indication that your chances for a successful outcome may be pretty slim. I wish you well, but am not sure I have any real hope to offer.

[Kitt]

Welcome joyfulvictory.

[Jomar]

I agree with lefthanded, I think too much time has passed...for a WC claim..

For others reading in the future, if you suspect any injury at work even a minor one, file a report so it is on record, then if it starts to hurt worse days, weeks or months later the report is one file..

[joyfulvictory]

Yes I still work for the same company. Ten years prior I had injured and done work comp with another company that found a way to fire me when I returned. I like my job and didn't want to lose it. My state pays temporary disability, my husband insurance was great and doc said I would be fully recovered in a year. Yes I have continued to flare up every time I go back to work but my doctor refuse to acknowledge that I have a permanent disability that is aggravated by work. In the last six years I've probably gone out a dozen times. The reason my doctor said it wasn't work related is because both parents have back problems and I couldn't pin point injury. I didn't do anything else outside of work that could point to injury. I have a job that requires 20-50 lbs lifting frequently.

[lefthanded]

Originally Posted by joyfulvictory

Yes I still work for the same company. Ten years prior I had injured and done work comp with another company that found a way to fire me when I returned. I like my job and didn't want to lose it. My state pays temporary disability, my husband insurance was great and doc said I would be fully recovered in a year. Yes I have continued to flare up every time I go back to work but my doctor refuse to acknowledge that I have a permanent disability that is aggravated by work. In the last six years I've probably gone out a dozen times. The reason my doctor said it wasn't work related is because both parents have back problems and I couldn't pin point injury. I didn't do anything else outside of work that could point to injury. I have a job that requires 20-50 lbs lifting frequently.

I am sorry for your ongoing physical issues. It is possible that your choice to treat under your insurance for so many years will be the reason that your condition will no longer be seen as compensable as an industrial injury claim. Just because your back condition may in part be hereditary is not a bar to coverage, but failing to submit your injury as a claim in a timely manner certainly has become one. It would be terribly difficult for a specialist to now separate your ongoing and worsening condition to identify a distinct cause sufficiently to file a new claim.

[joyfulvictory]

My most recent flare happened in January and the MRI shows a new protrusion of L5-S1. Does anyone know if this new protrusion could be claimed under work comp? It's been six months and I've been treated through my insurance in these six months.

[lefthanded]

Originally Posted by joyfulvictory

My most recent flare happened in January and the MRI shows a new protrusion of L5-S1. Does anyone know if this new protrusion could be claimed under work comp? It's been six months and I've been treated through my insurance in these six months.

Again, did you report an incident/injury to your employer at the time your January event occurred? No, you have already stated that you did not.

This latest flare started in January but I've never filled out any incident reports with my employer.

You do not have a doctor who supports this being work related, and you have stated you are unable to find a lawyer who will take your case. Worker's compensation is an accident/incident based insurance coverage which works much like your fire and auto insurance, in that you can not successfully file a claim once you have allowed the statute of limitations to expire. There is a reason for that statute of limitations; it is the insured's responsibility to notify the company in a timely manner when they have a claim. Same thing goes for industrial insurance. And California, it appears, has some pretty specific rules about notification, filing claims, and who may treat you when you are injured on the job. California W/C Guidebook, Ch. 1

[Jomar]

[new protrusion of L5-S1. Does anyone know if this new protrusion could be claimed under work comp? It's been six months and I've been treated through my insurance in these six months. ]


As far as I know, you need to report any possible injury to the employer & get the injury on record even if it doesn't become a actual claim. A report is only a report, alerts the employer that there may be a injury & claim in the future.

Getting treatment thru your medical insurance for 6 months and then trying to change it to a wc claim is going to be very difficult.. If the dr will back you up as to a date in January that you may have gotten injured it might be possible , but I think you still have to file a new report with employer.

Of course wc will try to say that is all related to old injuries & the complex regional pain syndrome may further complicate the issue..so it would be a uphill battle.

Timely reporting of any injury is the best way to get started.
If in the future you have any incident at all file a report right away.

[LIT LOVE]

A doctor doesn't need to decide if it's work related. You need to report it to your employer. If they refuse to submit a claim, then you contact the WC board and self submit. You can have an injury that is over a period of time. Whether or not you've let it go so long and treated it as if it was not a work injury...

Attorneys in CA are being much more picky about clients right now.

You always have the option of filing for SSDI if your condition reaches the point where you'll be unable to return to work.