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There are dangers to avoid in an Iowa work injury workers compensation claim and case.

Commonly, when an individual is hurt at work, their first inclination is to either attempt to continue working through the pain of their injury, or to simply go home and rest in their own comfortable setting. And while these thoughts are human nature, they have some dangerous pitfalls for the outcome of a worker’s compensation case. If you are injured due to a work-related injury, you need to tell your employer and request medical care promptly. Waiting to see a doctor can harm your overall health, as well as your case. Keep in mind that when an insurance company is evaluating the strength of your worker’s compensation claim, they may come to the same conclusion that a judge would; if you did not go to the doctor for your injuries ("it is because you were not hurt enough to go.") Remember, a lack of medical evidence in your file only strengthens the insurance company’s case. Furthermore, if you are injured, and your doctor says it is a result of your working, you must report the injury within 90 days of you knowing, or when you should have known there was a relationship between your work activities and your injury.

Occasionally, potential clients will believe that reporting the work injury is done just by the act of going to a doctor to complain of the injury. But that is not the case. The injury must be reported to your employer and you need to tell the employer that you believe it is work related. That said, even when you followed up with your doctor and notified your employer, there are crucial steps to follow. You need to be honest about your injuries, the limitations that result and any prior injuries you have had to the same or similar areas of your body. It is dangerous for your health, as well as your case, to either overstate the severity of your injuries, or to understate them. Be honest, give realistic responses to the doctor’s questions. Remember, doctors can only treat their patients based upon the truth of the answers provided by their patients. If your lower back hurts from a work injury, and you complain of low back pain to your doctor, but you fail to tell your doctor that the pain also moves to your legs on occasion, you are leaving out information that could change your diagnosis, as well as treatment with your doctor. Furthermore, simply going to your doctor to report an injury and seek initial treatment is not enough to prove that your injury has resulted in lasting limitations. While you do not always have to accept every therapy recommended by your doctor (although this can impact your case if you do not), you should follow up with your doctor on a regular and consistent basis to document your ongoing limitations and problems.

Once your doctor provides you a work release, even if that release states you can work less time than you are required by your employer to work, you must report to work. You should make yourself available to work within the restrictions your doctor gave you. And the final pitfall to avoid when you receive a work related injury, is to accept whatever amount of money the insurance company pays you for your injury. You should not have to sign settlement documents in order to receive payments relating to your impairment rating. View all documents from the insurance company that require you to sign them with suspicion, and above all else, if you are uncertain of the next step you should take in your worker’s compensation claim, you should consult with a qualified Iowa workers' compensation attorney.