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Depression and Work Injuries in Nevada
If you have a work injury in Nevada you are more likely to become depressed. If you do need a study to prove that there is a higher incidence of depression among workers with orthopedic injuries, you will be interested in the linked article from California psychologist Stephen Pfeiffer, Ph.D., He cites a study reported in the Annals of General Psychiatry, Dr. Pfeiffer frequently writes about depression and other psychological conditions affecting California's injured workers.
Unlike Dr. Pfeiffer, I am not a doctor. I am a lawyer who represents injured workers. The following are my Top Ten non-medical reasons injured workers tell me why they feel depressed after their job accident:
- They're hurt and in pain. That alone makes them unhappy.
- A supervisor, or co-worker, or their adjuster acts as if they are faking their injury...
- They are worried about whether they will still have a job when they are well again..
- They are getting the run-around from whomever is supposed to be handling their claim.
- They know they aren't getting good medical care, but don't know what to do.
- Authorizations for medical care take forever.
- They are worried about how they will make a living if they can't go back to their line of work.
- They're financially behind on bills as a result of late compensation checks, no compensation checks, or inadequate compensation checks.
- They hear stories that they might get a settlement at the end of their claim, but have no idea what to expect, or whether to hope for anything.
- They are worried about needing medical care in the future if the injury ever worsens after the claim is close.
- They know they need information, but don't know who to trust for advice.
Depression is serious. If you are feeling completely overwhelmed or suicidal, please tell your doctor immediately, or call 911 and ask for the suicide prevention hotline. While it can be difficult to obtain psychological treatment for depression on a worker's compensation claim, it can be done under the right circumstances. More importantly, many feelings of helplessness go away once you are armed with knowledge about how the claims process actually works. If you feel too lousy to actually meet with a lawyer for a free consultation, at least help call for a free guide so that you have a better understanding of Nevada workers' compensation law.
Permanent Partial Disability Awards- 2009 Legislative Update
It's good news for injured workers that at the last hour of the 2009 legislative session, on May 31, 2009, the Assembly and the Senate reaffirmed Senate Bill 195, overturning the governor’s veto. Section 3 of S.B. 195 requires that permanent partial disability evaluators continue to use the 5th edition of the American Medical Association’s Guide to Evaluation of Permanent Impairment. Had this bill not passed, rating doctors would have been required to use the 6th edition of the Guides. It was the consensus among rating doctors and attorneys for injured workers that most awards for serious injuries under the 6th edition would be significantly lower.
The law regarding notice of claim closure was amended to require that the insurer notify the injured worker whether or not a rating evaluation was being scheduled, and the reason why a rating was not being scheduled, in section 6 of Assembly Bill 281. Currently, the Notice of Claim Closure form does not give the injured worker any information about the scheduling of a rating evaluation. This amendment to the law will at least put an injured worker on notice that his treating physician has informed the insurer that there is no likelihood of impairment, and that a rating is not being scheduled. The injured worker can then evaluate options for obtaining a rating at his or her own expense with a doctor assigned from the rotating list, and perhaps file an appeal of the insurer’s determination to close the claim without a rating.
Section 7 of S.B. 195 allows a rating doctor to consider psychological impairment during a rating for those rare stress claims accepted under the narrow confines of NRS 616C. 180. Only physical impairment can be considered for all other claims.
