Understanding Your Worker's Compensation Rights For Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
If you're suffering from carpal tunnel syndrome or a similar repetitive motion injury and you believe it might be related to your job, you might qualify for worker's compensation benefits. Here's a look at the basics of carpal tunnel syndrome and how you can determine your worker's compensation eligibility.
An Overview of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
Carpal tunnel syndrome is marked by a compression of the tendons and nerves of your wrist. Often caused by repetitive motion, it can cause numbness, pain and weakness in your hands, wrist and fingers. If you're working on a keyboard on a regular basis, pressing buttons all day or working in a job that keeps your hands and fingers in the same position for prolonged periods, you're at risk of developing carpal tunnel syndrome.
A Look at Worker's Compensation Eligibility
Before you can apply for worker's compensation benefits for your carpal tunnel syndrome, you'll need to be able to prove that you are eligible. Once you have a formal diagnosis of the condition, it's time to get all of your evidence in order. Here are a few of the things you'll have to be able to show:
- It Was Caused by Your Job – carpal tunnel syndrome is one of the most widely debated conditions in terms of work-related injuries. Unlike accidents, falls and other obvious events, carpal tunnel doesn't normally have a clear cause. It's a progressive condition, so it develops over a long period of time. Unfortunately, if you play tennis, golf or engage in any other activities that require repetitive motion with your wrists and hands, the worker's compensation agency may argue that your condition was caused by your own personal behaviors. You'll need a doctor who can help you evaluate your condition and diagnosis to determine the most likely cause.
- You Can Prove the Condition or Document the Accident – each state has the freedom to determine how they define carpal tunnel for the purposes of worker's compensation. If your state considers worker's compensation to be an injury from an accident, you'll have to have evidence of the accident or injury. This means proving that your condition was spontaneously caused by an injury or appeared suddenly. Otherwise, you need medical records that show the progression of your carpal tunnel syndrome as a medical condition. You may even have to show that you were at an increased risk of developing the condition due to what you do for work. For example, if you work in data entry, you're at greater risk of developing carpal tunnel than an outside sales representative.
A Summary of Evidence Needs
Depending on how your state classifies carpal tunnel syndrome, your evidence requirements may be different. For example, if your state considers it to be the result of an accident, you're going to have to show that a preponderance of evidence indicates that the condition is work-related. This means that you only need to show more evidence to prove your point than you have evidence against it.
If you live in a state that considers carpal tunnel to be a condition, you need to have overwhelming evidence for the courts. Instead of the preponderance of evidence, you'll need to convince the court beyond any doubt that your carpal tunnel syndrome was the result of your job.
As you can see, with the right evidence about the cause of your carpal tunnel syndrome, you may be eligible to apply for worker's compensation benefits. The best thing you can do following a diagnosis is to talk with a worker's compensation attorney at a place like The Law Offices of Gregg Durlofsky who can help you sort out all of the finer details.
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