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Every injury is different. It’s the differences in the injury, the person, and the treatment, as well as other factors that can determine the dollars paid out.
Factors That Affect a Potential Workers’ Compensation Settlement
To compare apples to apples, let’s assume two different injured individuals had the following in common:
- Male
- Age 35
- No previous injuries
- Nonsmoker
- Welder
- Work at XYZ Mining Equipment Manufacturing
- Day shift
- Work on ABC product
- Filed workers’ comp claim for back injury due to repetitive motion
- Treated by Dr. John Doe
- Prescribed physical therapy
The difference is Person A responded to physical therapy and returned to work, but Person B was unable to continue physical therapy due to pain. Person B had to have steroid injections for the pain and inflammation, which allowed him to eventually resume physical therapy and return to work months after Person A.
Person B will probably receive a larger workers’ compensation steroid settlement to allow for the steroid injections and administration fees, risks of steroid injection, and the pain and inflammation that affect him mentally and physically, delaying his recovery and increasing his time away from work.
Risks of Steroid Injection
Steroid injections can increase your workers’ compensation settlement for many reasons, including the risks associated with steroids. Johns Hopkins Medicine notes the following symptoms.
Common Side Effects
Consider the following side effects associated with steroid injections:
- Flushing or reddening of the skin with an elevated temperature for a few days
- Insomnia
- Pain
- Headache
- Mood changes
Less Common Side Effects
Though rare, the following symptoms can occur:
- Infection
- Bleeding
- Blurred vision
- Elevated blood sugar
- Elevated blood pressure
- Changes in the skin at the injection site, possibly permanent
Serious But Rare Side Effects
Some people may even experience:
- Loss of vision
- Stroke
- Paralysis
- Nerve damage
The fact that your prescribed treatment of steroid injections has multiple recognized risks associated with it may add to the increase of your workers’ compensation settlement.
Other Factors That May Increase Your Workers’ Compensation Settlement
If you have filed a workers’ compensation claim, the adjuster will look at your recommended steroid injection use coupled with a host of other factors that ultimately affect the amount of your settlement, such as:
- The severity of your injury or condition: The more serious your injury, the higher the medical costs will rise for necessary treatments and the more pain and suffering you experience.
- A disability: If you suffered a permanent or temporary disability, this will require additional medical care, possibly job retraining, and rehab.
- How your injuries affect your life: The overall inconvenience an injury can cause impacts your daily life. You may not be able to care for yourself or your home, cook or shop for groceries, or drive yourself to medical appointments due to your injuries. This reduces your quality of life.
- If someone other than yourself is responsible for the accident that injured you.
- Your income: Your injuries may have forced you to take time off work or accept a lesser-paying job.
- The payout limits on your employer’s insurance policy
- Evidence in your case: Your medical records and eyewitness statements support your claim that your injury is work-related.
Protect yourself and your future by speaking with a workers’ compensation attorney before you talk to the workers’ compensation claims adjuster.
Waiting For Your Workers’ Compensation Steroid Settlement
If you were involved in a work-related accident, see a healthcare professional as soon as possible, even if you feel fine. Symptoms can take hours or even days to appear. You don’t want to exacerbate an injury by carrying on with your normal activity.
Share all of your symptoms with your doctor. Don’t assume that tingling in your feet has nothing to do with an injury to your back. It’s better to let the professionals determine what is injury-related and what is not. It’s also best to follow their advice — whether it’s physical therapy or chiropractic care or whatever their treatment plan may be, follow through with it unless you have serious misgivings. In that case, get a second opinion.
Do not share information about your case, injuries, activities, or well-being with anyone, in-person or online, other than the healthcare professionals treating you and your workers’ compensation attorney. Because we share so much of our lives online, workers’ compensation claims adjusters routinely mine social media platforms for images or text that they believe will prove an employee’s health is not as bad as they claim.
Conditions and Injuries Frequently Requiring Steroid Injections
An injury can be so painful that managing the pain becomes the most immediate concern. A steroid injection won’t cure an injury, but sometimes it relieves the pain and allows you to move forward with physical therapy or other treatments that will address the damaged area.
Common candidates for steroid injections are:
- Joint pain (osteoarthritis)
- Carpal tunnel syndrome
- Ruptured disks in the back
- Bursitis
- Tendonitis
- Bone spurs
- Slipped vertebrae
- Trigger finger or thumb
- Spinal stenosis
- Meniscus tears
- Rotator cuff tears
If your pain level is high enough to require steroid injections for relief, you have our sympathy. Pain is a debilitating symptom for which you deserve compensation.
KJT Law Group And Your Workers’ Compensation Case
The State of California’s Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) states that all employers of one or more employees must provide workers’ compensation benefits to the employee(s). It is against California law for an employer not to have workers’ compensation coverage. If you suffer a work-related injury and your employer does not have coverage, you may bring a lawsuit against your employer to recover compensation.
Knowing your rights as an employee protects your future. If you have a work-related injury or condition and are receiving steroid injections for pain, your workers’ compensation steroid settlement should reflect the additional burdens you bear due to your pain and the risks associated with steroid injection.
Our workers’ compensation attorneys will guide you through the sometimes-complicated claims process. We don’t back down from a fight and have successfully recovered millions in workers’ compensation cases for our clients. Call us today at (818) 507-8525 to schedule your free case evaluation.
