Nerve Tests And Workers’ Compensation

Workplace accidents can result in a wide range of injuries, including nerve injuries. In some cases, occupational diseases like carpal tunnel syndrome can also result in nerve damage that may be compensable through the Florida workers’ compensation system. It is important for you to know that, if you sustained nerve damage at work in a traumatic accident or as a result of a repetitive or overuse injury, you may be entitled to coverage for nerve tests that can be used to accurately identify, diagnose, and treat your injury or condition. You should learn more about nerve tests and how they are used in workers’ compensation cases, and the types of medical care (including nerve tests) that may be compensable under Florida law.

What Are Nerve Tests?

According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, there are different types of nerve tests that can be used to determine the existence or extent of nerve damage. Those tests include both nerve conduction velocity tests (which can also be known as nerve conduction studies) that “measure how fast an electrical impulse moves through your nerve,” as well as electromyography, which “measures the electrical activity in your muscles. As Johns Hopkins clarifies, “both tests help find the presence, location, and extent of diseases that damage the nerves and muscles.”

What types of injuries or diseases can be identified through these types of nerve tests? The Mayo Clinic cites some of the following:

• Injury from a fall that stretches, compresses, crushes, or cuts a nerve;
• Injury from a crush or caught-in or caught-between accident at work;
• Injury from any other type of workplace accident that results in a nerve being stretched, compressed, crushed, or cut; or
• Carpal tunnel syndrome.

Employers Must Provide Medically Necessary Treatment and Care

Is a nerve test covered by the Florida workers’ compensation system? In many circumstances, nerve tests should be covered under Florida law. According to the statute, “the employer shall furnish to the employee such medically necessary remedial treatment, care, and attendance for such period as the nature of the injury or the process of recovery may require.” The statute clarifies that “medically necessary” means “any medical service or medical supply which is used to identify or treat an illness or injury, is appropriate to the patient’s diagnosis and status of recovery, and is consistent with the location of service, the level of care provided, and applicable practical parameters.”

In other words, Florida law may require that workers’ compensation coverage pay for a nerve test so that your injury or occupational disease can be accurately diagnosed and treated.

Contact a Fort Lauderdale Workers’ Compensation Lawyer

If you sustained a nerve injury as a result of a workplace accident or as a result of a repetitive motion required by your job, you may be entitled to workers’ compensation benefits. Nerve tests can be critical for diagnosing and treating nerve injuries, and these tests may be compensable through the Florida workers’ compensation system. One of the experienced Fort Lauderdale workers’ compensation attorneys at the Law Offices of David M. Benenfeld, P.A. can speak with you today about your case and the steps you should take in order to seek compensation.

Sources:

hopkinsmedicine.org/health/treatment-tests-and-therapies/nerve-conduction-studies#:~:text=A%20nerve%20conduction%20velocity%20

mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/peripheral-nerve-injuries/symptoms-causes/syc-20355631

leg.state.fl.us/STATUTES/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0400-0499/0440/Sections/0440.13.html