This is the third in our series reviewing basic medical-legal aspects of our legal specialties. The focus of this edition is Oregon Workers’ Compensation law. Issues frequently arising in Workers’ Compensation disputes include “preexisting conditions” and “major cause.” The bulk of Volume 27 of our Medical-Legal Journal is devoted to sorting out the various applications … Read more
If your patient has a work-related injury or an occupational disease, it is important for you to understand the current definition of “pre-existing condition.” This requires an understanding of a number of key terms used in workers’ compensation cases. The revised definition of “pre-existing condition” became effective January 1, 2002. Even though it has been … Read more
Workers’ Compensation claims involving injuries on or after January 1, 2002, have been subject to changes in the law, including a new definition of “pre-existing condition.” Generally, a “preexisting condition” is a medical condition which a worker had prior to a claimed work injury or occupational disease, and which contributed to it. The definition … Read more
Many workers – our clients and your patients – have suffered (or potentially face) severe economic hardship because their work-related back and neck injuries are precluded from Workers’ Compensation coverage primarily because of their age. This is the result of the new (1995) “preexisting condition” definition which is now being applied in a way which … Read more
This is the third in a 3-part series on preexisting conditions. If your patient’s work injury has combined with a preexisting condition, your opinion on whether the work injury caused 51% or more of your patient’s disability or need for treatment (“major contributing cause”) may determine whether your patient receives Workers’ Compensation benefits. How should … Read more
If you are treating a patient whose need for treatment has more than one cause, can you quantify the amount each cause contributes? If your patient has a history of a condition, or even a previously undetected condition, in the same area as a recent work injury, can you state whether the injury has “combined” … Read more
Under a 1995 change in the workers’ compensation law, when a work injury “combines” with a “preexisting condition,” the work injury must be the major cause of the disability or need for treatment for the “combined condition” to be compensated. There are no easy “rules of thumb” to provide guidance under this new law. It’s a … Read more