If gastric bypass surgery would help your work comp case can you get it?
In a recent Chicago Tribune article, it was noted that a Judge in Indiana ordered an insurance company to pay for lap-band surgery for a 340 pound injured worker. It was the doctor's opinion that before back surgery took place the worker needed to lose a lot of weight in order for it to be successful. The worker was 340 pounds when hired, but the doctor and Judge felt that the work injury made the weight situation worse.
I have researched this issue and as far as I can tell, a similar case has never been decided in Illinois. It came up on a case I handled a few years ago, but my client decided not to pursue it because he had an $800,000 offer to settle and was going to take $25,000 of that money to get his surgery.
The reason this issue probably hasn't come up in the past in Illinois is the same reason my client didn't pursue it. You can all but guarantee that the worker who takes this one will have a case that is going to at least the Illinois Appellate Court. I think that an injured worker whose doctor wants them to have weight loss surgery would win their case, but it might take 3-5 years before the case is finalized. In the meantime you might be in serious pain and without financial benefits.
Would you want to suffer for many years in order to help out future injured workers that are in the same shoes as you? I wouldn't. The only way that we actually see a case like this going before a Judge is if someone has health insurance that can pay for their care and in the meantime the attorney can file the court case with the expectation that by winning the health insurance company will get paid back.
Workers compensation laws in Illinois really favor the workers, but when you have a unique issue, you can win your case, but still feel like you lost because your claim was dragged out in court for years.
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.
