When you face nerve damage from a work injury or repetitive stress at work, it can lead to surgeries and physical therapy. Getting your care covered is vital, as is getting replacement wages if you cannot work for a while.
Our lawyers can help you file Workers’ Comp claims for your injuries. Especially when nerve damage is involved, the care costs can be expensive, but you may still need sophisticated medical reports to prove your claim to the insurance company. This often requires help from lawyers certified in Workers’ Comp.
Call our Certified Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation lawyers at Cardamone Law at (267) 651-7945 for a free case review.
Types of Nerve Damage We Can Help With
Our nerve damage attorneys can help you claim benefits and damages for all kinds of nerve damage, whether your specific injury is listed here or not.
Ulnar Neuropathy
The ulnar nerve runs from your upper arm, down past the outside of your elbow, into your forearm. It carries signals to your forearm and eventually your hand. When you hit your “funny bone,” that’s usually the ulnar nerve – and ulnar neuropathy is more serious damage to that same nerve.
Damage to this nerve often comes from repetitive use, impact, and pressure on your elbow and wrist.
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal tunnel is similar in that it often comes from repetitive pressure and stress. The location, however, is at the base of your wrist.
Your median nerve runs through a gap in the wrist, and collapse or impingement on that nerve can often cause numbness, pain, and motor issues, particularly in the thumb, index, and middle fingers. Repair might require surgery.
Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS)
CRPS is a neurological condition resulting in increased pain, sensitivity, and other effects (such as changes to the skin) in an area affected by another injury. This can come in two types: one with underlying nerve damage and one without it.
With underlying nerve damage, the injury can often be identified, though proving it to your employer may require help from a lawyer and extensive medical documentation.
Sciatica
Sciatic nerve pain often comes from impingement of the spinal cord in your lower back. The result is a shooting pain down your buttocks and thigh that may make it impossible to sit or stand for long periods.
This often comes from hard labor that affects your lower back (e.g., lifting), but also from sitting. No matter how it happens, recovery can be difficult, and working through sciatica can be difficult or impossible.
Damages Available for Nerve Injuries at Work in West Chester
If you suffer nerve injuries, you may be entitled to compensation.
Damages vs. Workers’ Comp Benefits
The term “damages” is usually used in a personal injury lawsuit to discuss the money you are claiming for harm. Contrast that with “benefits,” which are paid out through Workers’ Compensation as a matter of right.
The terms are generally interchangeable, but Workers’ Comp only covers certain benefits.
Medical Costs
Medical costs can be claimed as benefits through Workers’ Comp or damages in a lawsuit. The full cost of treating a work injury should be covered in any injury claim.
Lost Wages
Workers’ Comp pays wage-loss benefits to cover 2/3 of your pre-injury average weekly wage (AWW) in most cases. This is subject to a cap at the statewide AWW and a floor at the lower of half that statewide AWW or 90% of your AWW.
If you work partially, you get 2/3 of the difference between your pre- and post-injury AWW.
If you sue in court, you can get full lost wage damages.
Specific Loss
Specific loss benefits pay 2/3 of your pre-injury AWW for a certain number of weeks based on the injury. These are only for amputation, permanent lost function, lost vision, lost hearing, and serious facial scars.
These are not available in a lawsuit. Caps equal the statewide AWW, and floors equal half that.
Pain and Suffering
These damages are only available through a lawsuit, not a Workers’ Comp claim. Even so, they can be vital.
You should not hesitate to speak to an attorney about whether there is an outside party you can sue to recover these damages.
FAQs for Nerve Injury Claims in West Chester, PA
How Long Do You Have to File?
You have to report your injuries to your employer within 21 days. If you miss that deadline, you can still technically file if you report within 120 days.
Claim Petitions for formal claims must be filed within 3 years of the injury, and lawsuits must be filed within 2 years in most cases.
What Evidence is Needed to Prove Your Case?
You should provide as much evidence as you can in these areas:
- Medical evidence showing what injuries you suffered
- Doctors’ reports showing that the injury was related to your work tasks
- Evidence of what your job tasks are
- Evidence of how the injury fit into your job tasks
- Evidence of your current state and how the injury affects your ability to work
- Evidence of lost wages.
Can You Get Pain and Suffering for Nerve Damage at Work?
Workers’ Compensation does not pay for pain and suffering. Nerve injuries and their treatment can be quite painful, so pain and suffering is an important part of your damages.
These damages must be claimed through a lawsuit, which means taking your case against an outside third party and proving their fault first before you can recover these damages.
Can You File Nerve Damage Claims Through Workers’ Comp if Some of the Injury Happened Outside of Work?
Often, nerve damage and injuries over time involve a combination of work stressors and outside stressors. The fact that something you do in your personal time might have also contributed to the injury doesn’t stop it from being work-related.
In most cases, as long as your injury stemmed from those work tasks, it can be claimed as a “work-related” injury. If it wholly happened outside of work, then it would not be covered.
Call Our Workers’ Compensation Lawyers for Nerve Damage in West Chester Today
Call Cardamone Law’s Workers’ Comp attorneys at (267) 651-7945 to get started with your case.
