This week a St. Lucie Judge ruled that an injured worker from Vero Beach, Florida was entitled to receive a medically necessary surgical procedure and that his workers’ compensation insurance company was required to pay for the medical care.
The injured worker was on a riding lawnmower when it flipped over, landing on him and causing extensive damage to his dominant right hand and arm. His injuries were so severe that he required multiple surgeries including fusions to his wrist, multiple fingers and his thumb. Further medical care was provided with a pain management physician who diagnosed him with Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD), a syndrome of nerve disorders characterized by chronic severe burning pain, pathological changes in bone and skin, excessive sweating, tissue swelling and extreme sensitivity to touch. Based on these injuries the insurance company accepted him as permanently and totally disabled.
Due to the nature of the injury, the worker had severe pain in the thumb where a wrist brace he was required to wear almost constantly rubbed against the bones in and around the thumb. On multiple occasions the only expert in the case, a professor at the University of Florida and a preeminent hand and upper extremity surgeon, recommended a relatively minor surgical procedure to trim the bone around the thumb to provide pain relief. The Judge found that Florida law required the workers’ compensation insurance carrier to pay for the surgery to relieve his pain even if it did not technically improve his injury.
The dedicated workers’ compensation attorneys at the Law Offices of Franks, Koenig & Neuwelt have helped many injured workers who have been denied medically necessary treatment by their work comp insurance companies. We understand how frustrating it can be to be treated under Florida’s work comp laws, have care recommended by work comp doctors and then have that care denied by the carriers. We can help you deal with your employer’s workers’ compensation insurance company and get you the care you deserve.
Call (561) 616-3800 to speak with one of the dedicated workers’ compensation attorneys at the for a free and confidential consultation today. We have more than 50 years of combined legal experience helping Florida’s injured workers recover the medical care they deserve.
