When Does A Workplace Heart Attack Qualify For Workers’ Compensation In North Carolina?

In this article, you will discover:

• What is necessary for a workplace heart attack to be compensable in North Carolina.
• How medical professionals determine whether your work conditions or job duties contributed to causing your heart attack.
• The common medical and legal challenges inherent in bringing a workers’ compensation claim for a workplace heart attack.

Can A Heart Attack That Occurs At Work Qualify For Workers’ Compensation Benefits In North Carolina?

Workers’ compensation covers workplace accidents. Insofar as a heart attack is an accident, or is an unusual occurrence at work, it might qualify for workers’ compensation benefits– under the right circumstances.

For a heart attack occurring during workplace hours to be compensable, your work routine must be interrupted by more strenuous, difficult, or physically dangerous work circumstances than you would typically encounter.

How Do Medical Experts Help Determine Whether A Person’s Job Duties Or Working Conditions Contributed To A Heart Attack?

A medical professional must link your heart attack to a workplace situation to establish whether your job duties contributed to your heart attack.

If there are ten years of medical records indicating that your doctor warned you at every checkup that you’re going to have a heart attack, your heart’s not healthy, you’re not doing what you need to do, or you need to be on medication, it will be difficult to blame your employment situation and what happened at work.

However, if you generally have a decent bill of health, and the medical professional can link the heart attack to what happened at work that day, then there’s a strong chance that you could pursue a claim and receive some kind of benefits.

Many case law examples show that a heart attack can be compensable. For example, if you were exposed at work to dangerous substances, such as harmful gases or toxic chemicals, you may have a compensable claim. Overexertion that’s extraordinary for your type of work, characterized by high temperatures or high humidity, pressured deadlines or heavy lifting, might also trigger a compensable claim.

To that end, for a doctor to provide an opinion that links your heart attack to severe work conditions, they must first understand what your normal job entails and what was different the day of the heart attack that might have triggered it. Fortunately, the medical literature has advanced enough to distinguish what you could do or be exposed to at work that might cause a heart attack.

Attorney Justin Wraight is a skilled lawyer based in Greensboro and Belmont, North Carolina, who has helped clients like you navigate the intricacies of workers’ compensation law. With over two decades of experience, he is prepared to assist you in all stages of filing a workers’ compensation claim for benefits if you’ve suffered a heart attack at work caused by your job duties or workplace conditions.

Still have questions? Ready to get started? Contact Cardinal Law Partners today to schedule an initial consultation.

What Are The Most Common Medical And Legal Challenges When Pursuing Workers’ Compensation For A Workplace Heart Attack?

Getting that medical opinion is probably one of the most difficult challenges you face in a case like this. Many doctors don’t want to get involved in more nuanced cause-and-effect questions. Doctors also tend to look for a significant and pre-existing cardiovascular issue, such as high blood pressure or use of medications to control the heart and the cardiovascular system.

If that pre-existing condition is prevalent in someone’s medical history, the doctor may conclude that your heart attack could just as easily have happened over the weekend while you were walking in the park or at home before or after work.

That’s why workplace exposure to unusual or extraordinary circumstances must be closely connected to the heart attack, and that’s difficult to establish convincingly with medical professionals. Also, defendants will always hire their own expert, who will focus on any pre-existing condition you have.

Finally, aside from the medical opinion, the heart attack must be closely associated with some kind of workplace accident or circumstances. In some cases, it’s difficult to show that work conditions caused the heart attack and were the trigger that pushed you over the edge.

How Can A Workers’ Comp Attorney Help An Injured Employee Or Surviving Family Member Determine Whether Benefits May Be Available After A Work-Related Heart Attack?

If someone has passed or is in the hospital recovering from a heart attack, and I’m speaking with a family member, we need to know what kind of work circumstances were prevalent the day of the heart attack. We need to know whether there was some increased stress, extreme heat, increased physical labor, or other working conditions that were worse than usual.

There’s also an argument to be made if your work hours were changed to make them stressful or difficult to manage. For example, suppose you were recently moved to the night shift. We would need to know how and why that change could be linked to the heart attack.

You also want to know, from the doctor’s perspective, why the heart attack happened, under what circumstances, and whether you had a history of cardiovascular disease and were taking medications to manage it.

Ultimately, the big question is: Why did this happen at work rather than at home? If there’s not a clear answer to that, you may not have a good case to pursue in the courts.

Still Have Questions? Ready To Get Started?

For more information on whether a workplace heart attack qualifies for workers’ compensation in North Carolina, an initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling (833) 444-4257 today.