Construction Workers' Comp Hernia

[BentSpace]

A friend of mine asked me for help. He lives in Iowa and is subject to the rules of Iowa. He works for a construction company and he got a hernia on his lower belly a year ago while on the job and it has been getting worse and worse as time goes on. He never told them for fear of being fired. Now that work is getting real slow he thinks he will be laid off very soon (possibly in 3 weeks). He wanted me to do some research and find out what he should do and see if he can get Workers' compensation before he gets laid off. He wants to know if he has a case.

1. If in a week or two if his hernia bursts under picking up constant heavy objects monday thru friday 8-5 or not.

2. What if it doesn't burst and he get laid off and he doesn't have a chance to sue the company for his hernia caused during the work in this company during the past 1 year.

He finds himself in a very precarious position with no loopholes and he feels he has no repercussions and he will be laid off in 3 weeks with no workers' compensation.

If his hernia bursts during work in a 10 days from now and he will be sent to hospital ER and they operate on him and put screening mesh on his lower belly then, if so does he have a lawsuit case against the company, please.

I would highly appreciate any help in this, ASAP. Thank you so very much.

[1171]

here are the time limits that apply to Iowa comp benefits:
http://www.iowaworkforce.org/wc/faq.htm#Are

an aggravation of an underlying condition while at work is considered a new injury.
even though he did not report the original injury he can still report an aggravation.

sometimes such claims can be disputed if there is evidence non-work related activities contributed or caused the hernia. it will require supporting medical opinion in order to secure benefits.

[ralpht]

(05-18-2011 02:25 AM)1171 Wrote:  here are the time limits that apply to Iowa comp benefits:
http://www.iowaworkforce.org/wc/faq.htm#Are

an aggravation of an underlying condition while at work is considered a new injury.

I have a related question. Can a Dr determine a hernia is already-existing (and aggravated) compared to being new?

What I'm driving at is: if the OP's friend didn't disclose he already had a hernia, could that be discovered by examination?

I'm not advocating lying, perjury, etc. I'm just saying that the subject isn't a medical professional and is essentially being asked to render a diagnosis he never received from a medical professional. And, to do so to his own detriment. Seems to me like there is a bit of room to not provide any more information than can be proven (a Dr.'s diagnosis).

Notwithstanding the personal question of how ethical it is to be honest without being needlessly transparent (and how to balance this against an employer who may have fired the individual for exercising their right to file a claim in a timely manner):

Can the "newness" of a hernia be discovered medically?

Thanks in advance.

[1171]

legally a physician can only offer their opinion as medical evidence. only the court can make a legal determination based on the most persuasive evidence.

as I responded to the original poster: by law an aggravation of a pre-existing condition is considered a new injury; there is no difference between aggravation and new.

what matters is whether there was an aggravation not whether it was pre-existing.

and yes a doctor can offer an opinion as to whether there was an aggravation or not.

of course, it's issues like this that make work comp claims contentious as the employer often doesn't see the fairness.