Back in 1995, I had a pallet of bricks tip over and crushed my left foot. Surgeons did all they could to put the pieces back together but it resulted in a fusion of several joints within the foot and ankle. I wear an orthotic device in my boot but I was left with a permanent limp on the left side.
My claim was closed last winter. This last fall I began to notice, while at work again, that my left hip has become increasingly more painful. Last month I saw a doctor and he tells me that I am now developing arthritis in my left hip. Can I reopen my Labor and Industries claim even though the left hip was not originally injured?
It is not uncommon for injuries in one part of the body to leave an individual with permanent disability such that it changes the way they walk, the way they reach, the way they stand, etc. The way we physically compensate for a permanent injury or dis-ability sometimes causes us to overuse other parts of our body.
Under the Worker's Compensation system, if compensation for permanent impairment of one part of the body leads to the development of symptoms in other parts of the body, you should have a right to reopen the claim for the new condition. It is largely a medical question as to what brought about the arthritis in your left hip. If your doctor believes that it is related to the change in gait, stance or weight bearing, then you should file a reopening application. If the reopening application is denied, please see an attorney.
I have a previous knee injury claim for an on-the-job injury which was closed several years ago. The knee has become much more stiff due to arthritis that has developed. My doctor indicates that there is not much that can be done treatment-wise to cure the problem. What should I do?
Even though your doctor is not currently recommending further medical treatment, if your industrially related knee condition has worsened objectively, you should be entitled to have your claim reopened and have a re-evaluation of the permanent partial disability made. As the law now stands, an individual has seven years from the date that the claim is first "finally closed" to reopen the claim. If you wait beyond seven years from the first final closure of your claim, you may lose the right to reopen this.
In 1984, I was working in the mountains thinning trees when I fell down an embankment and injured my knee and crushed a vertebrae in my lower back. I had treatment for about three years, paid for by the Department of Labor and Industries. A family emergency caused us to move back to Pennsylvania. We stayed there almost two years. I continued with treatment in Pennsylvania and paid for it out of my own pocket. We moved back to the state of Washington, and I heard nothing more from the Department of Labor and Industries about my claim. About a year ago, my knee began swelling and popping when I stand or walk. Can I ask the Department of Labor and Industries to pay for any further treatment of my knee injury?
If you never received any written notice of claim closure from the Department of Labor and Industries, all you have to do is see a doctor and if they recommend further treatment, the Department should have to pay for that continued treatment. If the Department, while you were in Pennsylvania, attempted to close the claim but you never received any written notice of that closure, the claim is still "open". The Department of Labor and Industries has the obligation to "communicate" the order to the injured worker.
