If you had a bad back, an old knee injury or arthritis before your work accident, the insurance company will probably try to blame your pain on that. Don’t let it scare you off. Many people go to work every day with old injuries, and the law doesn’t hold that against you. Philly Injury Lawyer helps injured workers prove that their job made things worse.
The Short Answer
Yes, you can get workers’ comp with a pre-existing condition. In Pennsylvania, an injury is covered if your work caused, aggravated, sped up or worsened a condition you already had. Your employer takes you as it finds you.
Common Examples
- A worker with mild back problems who herniates a disc lifting at work
- A worker with an old knee injury who tears cartilage on a job site
- A worker with arthritis whose repetitive job makes the joint much worse
- A worker with a past shoulder strain who tears the rotator cuff at work
How Insurers Push Back
- Saying your pain is just your old condition getting worse with age
- Using old medical records to argue nothing changed
- Sending you to an IME with a doctor who agrees with them
- Claiming the aggravation was temporary and is over
How to Prove Your Claim
- Be honest about your history with your doctors. Hiding it backfires.
- Show the change. What could you do before the work injury that you can’t do now?
- Get your doctor’s opinion that the work incident made your condition worse.
- Gather before-and-after records, such as old imaging compared to new imaging.
When the Aggravation “Ends”
Insurers often argue that you’ve gone back to how you were before. If you haven’t, we fight that with medical evidence and testimony from your doctors.
Insurer Blaming an Old Injury? Call Us
Call (215) 735-4800 for free. We Win or It’s Free®.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I tell the doctor about my old injury?
Yes. Your history will come out anyway. Being upfront lets your doctor explain exactly how your work made things worse.
What if I had a prior workers’ comp claim for the same body part?
You can still have a new claim if a new work incident made it worse. The details matter, so talk to us.
If your job aggravated a degenerative condition, the aggravation can be covered.
Pennsylvania Law in Plain English
Pennsylvania courts have long held that the aggravation of a pre-existing condition by work is a compensable injury under the Workers’ Compensation Act. The question is whether work contributed to your current disability, not whether you were healthy before.
