Disclose Your Medical History to Your Workers Compensation Doctor

Should I disclose my whole medical history to my workers compensation doctor?  I get questions about this all the time.  The truth is, the Virginia workers compensation system can be very dangerous for those who don’t know the process. A mistake, even an innocent oversight, can spell major trouble for your case. One major mistake injured workers make is not telling their workers compensation doctor about their entire medical history or previous similar injuries or illnesses.  Always disclose medical history to your workers compensation doctor in a complete and accurate manner.

Doctors and medical providers will ask you if you had any injury, illness, or disease prior to your work place injury. ALWAYS ALWAYS tell the truth when answering questions about your medical history or prior injuries or illnesses! Providing a complete and accurate medical history helps your doctor determine the best way to treat you.  Providing incomplete or inaccurate medical history can have serious consequences to your recovery and your claim to obtain workers compensation benefits.

One very common mistake I see is that an injured worker will tell their workers compensation doctor about their medical history but leave out certain information about prior injuries or illnesses (for whatever reasons-fear of their employer finding out or maybe fear that their claim will be denied because of similar injuries in the past), only for the insurance adjuster to find out about the omissions later.  Then there is a problems! A doctor, who was initially on your side, now thinks you are a liar.  The doctor will question, now that he knows about these other accidents and that you lied to him, whether your current problems are related to the work accident.