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- Norwegian Cruise Line To Plead Guilty To Negligence
- Insulin Pumps Linked To Personal Injuries And Death In Teens By FDA Study
- Wisconsin Man Injured When His Cane Gets Caught In Sidewalk Gap
- Information About Personal Injury Suits
- Three New York Businesses Found to Be In Violation of Workers' Comp Law
- Family Files Suit After Police Dog Attack
- Children, Seniors Most Likely To Be Attacked By Dogs
- What Can I Expect From My Social Security Disability Medical Review?
- Virginia Man Pleads Guilty to Disability Fraud
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North Carolina Workers' Compensation
- Workers Compensation Benefits
- Medical costs continue to rise but one South Carolina newspaper explains how employers can lower their workers compensaton costs.
- Workers Compensation Rights Expanded for Injured Workers
Disability Insurance - ERISA Attorney
Social Security Disability
- North Carolina Social Security Appeal Lawyer
- Self Employed Workers May Collect Social Security Disability Benefits
- The two Social Security disability programs are very different
Nursing Home Neglect
- Assisted Living Neglect
- North Carolina Assisted Living Neglect Attorney
- Finding a suitable nursing home for a loved one insures their "golden years" won't be spent in a state of depression.
Medical Malpractice, Hospital Malpractice, Professional Negligence
- Kansas Physician and Wife Indicted for Fradulent Prescriptions
- Court to Decide Who is Liable for Medical Procedure that Left Patient in Wheelchair
- Steep Malpractice Insurance Premiums Prompt Some Doctors to Mull Next Career Move
Accident Attorney
- A Dangerous Error: The Duke Medical System Hydraulic Fluid Case
- North Carolina Child Seatbelt Laws
- How to Win Your North Carolina Accident or Injury Claim
Dog Bite Attorney
Insurance Disputes
- United Policy Holders Supports Policy Holder
- Health-Care Provider Sues Rival for "Anti-Trust" Marketing
- Corporate Financial Liability Capped by Ohio Supreme Court
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General
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Pre-existing conditions will not prevent an injured worker from collecting workers compensation payments
A worker can recover full workers’ compensation benefits when an accident materially accelerates or aggravates a condition which existed before the accident. This is true even if the accident would not have caused injury or death to a person without such a pre-existing condition.The application of this rule of law arises most often in cases involving injury to the back. The fact that an employee has an injured or weak back before the accident does not prevent the worker from collecting full workers’ compensation benefits when an accident at work causes injury to an already injured back. The employment need not be the only cause of injury in order to render the accident payable.
The relative contributions of the accident and the pre-existing condition are not weighed. An employer must accept an employee as he is, and if a payable injury precipitates a latent physical condition such as heart disease, cancer, back weakness, or the like, the entire disability is payable.
When an injury arising out of and in the course of the employment aggravated a preexisting heart condition and caused death, the court held that the injury was payable.
This rule of law is a great benefit to the injured worker. However, the rule is not always easy to apply. It is sometimes difficult to predict whether the Industrial Commission or the court will determine that an accident caused an injury. Even where there is a claim that an accident made a pre-existing condition worse, the worker still must prove that the accident had some part in causing the injury.
As with many issues arising in workers’ compensation cases, the issue of whether an accident or condition at work which makes a pre-existing condition worse is payable is sometimes difficult to predict. Therefore, it is important to have the assistance of an experienced workers’ compensation lawyer to increase the chances of collecting from the employer.
North Carolina's Essential
Guide to Accident Cases
Ten Costly Mistakes
That Can Wreck Your
North Carolina Case
How to Get Top Dollar$
for Your Workers' Compensation Claim
If You Have A Workers' Compensation Claim, You Can Learn How To Deal With Your Employer's Insurance Company.
Quick Contact
Brent Adams & Associates
Raleigh, Fayetteville & Dunn, NC
Toll Free: 800-849-5931
Phone: 910.892.8177
Fax: 910.892.0652
FAQs
North Carolina Workers' Compensation
- To what benefits am I entitled if I am injured in a work-related accident?
- Who decides whether a claim will be paid if my employer refuses to pay voluntarily?
- How does the law define “disability”?
- If my work-related accident injures a part of my body which had previously been injured, can I still recover?
- If my employer is late in paying my weekly workers’ compensation benefits, what can I do?
Social Security Disability
Question: I am only in my 20s. Last month I received
personal injuries in a vehicular accident and am now unable to work. Is there a
certain age I must be to receive benefits from Social Security disability?
Question: I'm receiving benefits from Social Security
disability for myself, my wife and my son based on my severe disability. I also
have a daughter by my ex-wife who used to receive child support from me when I
was still able to work. Now that I'm disabled, can my daughter receive benefits
too?
- Should I file a claim for social security benefits?
General
- Q: I haven't worked with asbestos for twenty years. Do I still have a workers' compensation claim if I get sick?
- Do I have a claim against the manufacturer of the asbestos products that caused my disease even if I as exposed long ago?
- What if I was injured by exposure to asbestos in my home? Do I have a claim if I never worked with asbestos? What kind of products should I worry about?
- Do I qualify for disability benefits under my union pension plan?
- How do these claims work together? Can I get all of the benefits at the same time, or do they offset each other?