Although it can be an uphill battle, you may still have some options if you did not file a request for hearing within the sixty day time period under the Oregon Workers's Compensation law.
When your claim was accepted for some kind of injury, you may have asked that the insurance company accept another medical condition. Sometimes, the condition that is denied may be different than the medical condition you actually suffered as a result of the injury. For example, if you asked that a strain injury be accepted, but an MRI or other medical test shows a torn ligament or some other more serious injury, you may be able to still make a claim for that particular medical problem.
If your doctors find an injury that was not diagnosed before, this new evidence may overcome a previous denial.
There are also situations where the type of claim filed and denied is different than what is actually going on. For example, you may have filed an aggravation claim for a condition that was never accepted. Depending on the language in your claim denial, you may be able to file a new medical condition claim, or a consequential condition claim.
There are also possibilities with hearing loss claims or other kinds of occupational disease claims. You may have filed a hearing loss claim ten years ago, that was denied, but not appealed. That does not prevent you from claiming that your exposure to noise at work caused additional hearing loss. Of course, you still need to prove your claim.
If you have questions about the nature of your denial, and whether there are other options, call us at 503-325-8600. We are happy to help.
