non work related injury / intensified injury at work

[Vincent]

Muscle strain bicep lifting weights a month ago. Slowly getting better but not quick enough. I do physical work at my job. Some of my duties made it worse. Went to orthopedic doc under reg insurance since it was not originally work related. Scheduled for MRI. Yesterday at work I injured it more creating more complicatons and now having difficulty using my arm at all including typing this msg.
I do not want to take advantage of the system however not sure how to deal with this. Don't know if I should file a WC claim. ?

[lfoster21]

My opinion, if your reg. insurance is paying for your injury...I would never recommend W/C as a solution. You have probably read other posts and let me tell you they are not exagerated when many say that they are being run through the mud just trying to see a Dr. or get their meds paid for etc. Also, sometimes if you have a W/C case, it will be difficult to get a job later in life if the new employer finds out. It will also be very difficult to see other Drs. about the problem, whether it is because your initial w/c Dr. retires, you don't like their work, or simply because you move and need a new Dr.

Anyway, that is my thought. I know others will come along with their imput. Good luck and keep us posted.

[Timothy Belt]

There are time limits to report work injuries and in many states, an aggravation of a pre-existing condition at work constitutes a new injury. My fear would be potential wage loss. If you do not report the injury as work related, and later suffer a period of wage loss, you may lose your rights to workers' compensation for failure to provide timely notice.

[stiffnecked]

Depends on the state that your in. Since you've already told your primary care doctor that they injury was not work related you will have some problems. You can file a work comp claim and you should. But when push comes to shove they will look at your medical records and if your primary doctor told you not to do heavy lifting and you contiued to do it even at work you'll come up on the short end of the stick.

On the other side if he said you could do "full duty" then this may constitute a new injury. They will try to apportion it and say they are only liable for damages caused by the work injury part and not the preexisting part. Good luck and file quickly to preserve your rights...