Making a Claim for Complications and Medication Side Effects

Being injured in any type of accident can sometimes cause a chain reaction of complications or side effects that will also need to be treated.

This could be the case with a car accident, personal injury accident, or even in a work-related accident. In workers’ compensation claims this is known as a compensable consequence and you are entitled to receive compensation for them so long as they are a direct result of the original work injury. If you need help in recovering compensation from a complication or side effect of your work-related injury, contact a Missouri workers compensation attorney as soon as possible.

Common Side Effects After an Accident

One of the most common side effects of a work-related injury, and the most highly disputed is a subsequent addiction to pain medications. This is especially dominant in cases with a back injury where the physician prescribes strong narcotics to help ease the pain. These drugs are addictive and if taken long enough a person will grow a tolerance to them and seek more. The employer can be held responsible to cover the rehabilitation that may be required to treat the addiction if your workers’ compensation attorney can prove how it is a directly related to your work-related injury.

Another example of a compensable consequence that is often refuted by the insurance company is a mental illness, such as depression, after an accident. We see this most often in cases where the initial accident was traumatic. For some people that could cause a mild form of post-traumatic stress disorder or high anxiety. Psychiatric help may be necessary to help deal with those symptoms and should be covered by your claim. In some cases, the stress of not being able to work due to an injury can cause an employee to suffer from depression. Any medications or therapy needed to battle this is typically compensable as well. Again, the help of a workers’ compensation attorney will assist you greatly in showing the employer and his insurance company the direct relationship of your mental distress to the first injury.

Complications After an Accident

Of course, medical complications are also compensable. Undergoing any type of surgery comes with a certain amount of risk. In fact, the surgeon will go over all of those risks with you before any procedure and have you sign a waiver stating that you are aware of them. With any type of invasive procedure, there is a risk of infection, excessive blood loss, and even death. With IV use comes the risk of developing thrombosis, a painful condition that affects the arteries. A Missouri mechanic who injured his leg in an accident at work was able to also file a claim for the thrombosis he developed during the course of his treatment.

Workplace Injury and Accident Causes

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