Carpal tunnel
Work Comp Settlement Amounts

There are multiple factors that will determine whether your case of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) can or will be covered under your state's workers compensation laws (work comp for short) and this can directly influence any carpal tunnel award and settlement amounts you may receive.

Be aware that there is not a consensus among medical and legal experts as to whether most cases of CTS are even work-related.

See Carpal tunnel syndrome causes and Controversy Also, for a very interesting article check out IS CTS CAUSED BY WORK?

So be careful when surfing and reading lawyer's websites especially if they do not practice law in the state you were injured in...because it seems every state has some differences in their work comp laws.

Carpal tunnel work comp settlement amounts

In 2005 the National council on compensation insurance (NCCI) produced a 10 paged detailed report on carpal tunnel syndrome and the effects of it on the work comp system.

It found that CTS ranks second behind lumbar (back) disc injuries in terms of total loss costs. With about $1 billion incurred for CTS claims 18 months after injury.

Another study showed that $ 1 out of every $ 3 spent for workers comp was due to CTS.

To understand the significance of CTS claims NCCI compared it to back strain cases and found some differences:

CTS cases are more likely to result in lost-time claims compared with back injuries.
Women suffer relatively more CTS injuries while men get more back injuries.
Workers suffering CTS injuries are more likely to be higher paid than workers incurring back injuries.
Compared with back strain cases, CTS claimants tend to be older (over 35).

NCCI also looked at the severity of CTS claims by age group and found that medical severity of CTS claims continued to increase for those 65 and older for both lost-time and medical claims.

Since CTS claimants tend to be older, CTS injuries could become even more widespread as the workforce ages.

For some interesting Work Comp Info See:

Florida Work Comp Laws

Work Comp Claims

Conventional wisdom sometimes assumes that CTS is confined to clerical positions. However, in examining the data by job classifications, it was found that employees in manufacturing positions also experience significant CTS injuries, in fact, these are more severe, possibly due to surgery...but also possibly due to lawyer involvement and the work comp system!

See WORK COMP AND CARPAL TUNNEL SURGERY

As mentioned above NCCI also looked at the impact of attorney involvement on "carpal tunnel claim severity" and found that the involvement of lawyers has a pronounced impact on compensation more so than medical costs.

The average cost per carpal tunnel claim without attorney involvement is $16,000. When an attorney is involved the average cost jumps to $29,000. Keep in mind that you would have to subtract their fee of 20-30% off of that figure.

Also having a lawyer involved can substantially increase the length of time before a settlement is reached, due to setting court dates, getting testimonies etc...

Sometimes, however, an employee feels that a company is not treating them fairly for whatever reason and feels that getting a lawyer is their only recourse.

See DOES WORK COMP EFFECT CARPAL TUNNEL SURGERY OUTCOME?

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