The Easiest Way to Lose a Case Involving Subjective Pain
Clearly not everyone feels pain to the same degree, and the same injury may produce more pain in one person than another. It would make sense, then, that treatment for the injury would be specific to each person. Two workers with the same lower back strain from heavy lifting could take different periods of time to recover and be able to get back to work, if at all.
When you need to prove your case for workers’ compensation benefits to reimburse you for the full extent of your recovery, you want to be sure to not make some simple mistakes that could blow your case. Since pain is real, and needs to be treated, yet it is subjective and needs to be proven somehow, the way you go about it can make all the difference. In a case decided recently in Illinois, a mechanic who injured his back at work made some of these mistakes.
First, he did not have medical testimony from his treating physicians that backed up his complaints of ongoing pain. The physician’s reports lacked any medical basis for continued treatment, or for his current reduced functioning based on the pain he claimed to be suffering.
In contrast, another very similar Illinois case where a mechanic suffered back strain and chronic pain, the medical testimony was specific and supported the worker’s claims. He had two treating physicians that gave medical opinions that his injury was likely caused by heavy lifting on the day of the accident, and testified about his current limited functioning. Also, the worker had continued to receive additional treatment to try to relieve the pain, including acupuncture and massages.
The second mistake the worker made in proving his case, was not conducting himself within what he claimed his own physical limitations were. If you are in pain, and need further treatment and work limitations, then you have to limit your activities accordingly. This worker did not. When the insurance company used video surveillance to check on his activity, what they saw on the video was that he was doing things that were outside of his work restrictions, and that were inconsistent with his claims of pain.
When you are trying to prove this kind of a case, credibility is critical. Any support you can bring in the form of medical testimony can help to show that you are not inventing your pain. And you are only hurting your case if you try to push yourself too far and do activities that are not the type someone in your condition should do. You lose the credibility of your own testimony about your pain, if you say you cannot bend and lift at work, and then you are out shoveling your snow---regardless of how much pain you are in when you do it.
We are workers' compensation attorneys that help people with Illinois work injuries anywhere in IL via our statewide network of attorneys. Contact us and we will answer your questions or find the right lawyer for your situation.
