Articles Posted in Medical News

Representing injured workers in Pennsylvania, we see many severe injuries.  One condition which certainly belongs in this category is Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD), otherwise known as Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS).  This debilitating condition has been discussed on our blog in the past.

Since a hallmark of RSD/CRPS is incapacitating pain, much of the challenge in treating patients with the condition is providing some level of relief.  A tool which may be coming to the arsenal of pain management physicians in the future is Neridronic Acid.  Clinical trials of this medication are promising enough to have led the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to label Neridronic Acid with the Breakthrough Therapy designation, as noted by the U.S. National Institute of Health (NIH). These clinical trials appear to have shown a significant reduction in pain and symptoms of CRPS with the Neridronic Acid treatment, as reported by Pain News Network.

We will be keeping an eye on this, and other, avenues that the medical community pursues to care for injured workers with this serious condition.

Pennsylvania work-related injuries occur in many forms.  We see musculoskeletal trauma, such as a broken wrist or ankle, a herniated disc in the neck or back, or tears in the knee or shoulder, among many others.  Neurological injuries also unfortunately happen, and can include Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD)/Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS), Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), or various nerve abnormalities, like carpal tunnel syndrome or ulnar neuropathy.  Different than these conditions, though certainly no less serious, can be injuries at work which lead to a severe burn.

For these burn victims, recent research is giving hope to a new way of treatment, using stem cells.  In what sounds like something taken from the pages of a science fiction novel, or a Star Trek episode, according to CNN, RenovaCare has created what it dubs “The SkinGun.”  This amazing tool would take harvested stem cells, put into a water-based solution, and “shoot” the spray onto the burned area.  New skin would then begin to develop at the cellular level.  Typical complications in burn cases, such as infection and a body’s graft rejection, are minimized by the SkinGun.

At this point, the SkinGun has not yet been approved by the Food and Drug Administration, though continued research and testing is taking place.  We will continue to monitor this, and other medical advances, to keep our clients well informed.

A recent study from Northwestern Medicine and the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, published in Science Daily, relates that scientists have identified what part of a patient’s brain is triggered during a “placebo effect.”  A “placebo” is a “fake medicine,” which can actually cause real pain relief.

We have many injured workers who suffer tremendous pain due to a litany of different conditions, from a fractured ankle, to a lumbar radiculopathy, to complex regional pain syndrome [CRPS] (formerly known as Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy [RSD]).  Even years after a work injury, many of our clients continue to suffer chronic and unremitting pain.  Relief through medications is often hit and misses.

This research is not suggesting that injured workers are not actually suffering from pain, or that placebos should be more widely used.  Instead, the significance of this research is to identify where to look in the brain of an injured worker, to determine how that person is processing a medication (since each person is a unique individual, and treatment helping one may not help another).

Spinal cord stimulators have been around for many years. In fact, the FDA first approved the use of such devices back in 1989. These devices can provide relief to those who live in chronic pain. Many of our clients have benefited from these devices, though not all patients have success with them. The FDA recently approved a new version of spinal cord stimulator, which can provide pain relief without causing an uncomfortable tingling sensation.

This new spinal cord stimulator is called the Senza System, manufactured by Nevro Corp., based in Menlo, California. The pain relief can be accomplished without the tingling (also known as paresthesia) through “high frequency stimulation (at 10 KHz) and low stimulation amplitudes.”

Obviously, any increase in the ability to control chronic pain is of benefit to the injured worker that we encounter every day. A reduction of narcotic medication, which has significant and dangerous side effects, is always an advantage. This chronic pain can be a result of many types of conditions, including failed low back syndrome (after surgery did not relieve the pain), and Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS, also known as Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy [RSD]). We also note, in passing, that an aggravation of a preexisting low back condition can still form the basis of a valid workers’ compensation claim in Pennsylvania.

In 2009, we discussed an article in the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, which advised patients to try physical therapy before resorting to low back surgery for degenerative disc disease. Now, six years later, a University of Pittsburgh study found that surgery and physical therapy achieved roughly the same success rates for “lumbar spinal stenosis.”

Perhaps the first thing to address is what are “degenerative disc disease” (DDD) and “spinal stenosis.” As the name implies, degenerative disc disease is the damage, the wear and tear, that is caused just by years of activity. As with grey hair, bad eyesight or other physical traits, some people are more prone to this condition than others. “Spinal stenosis” is a narrowing of the spine, which can lead to a nerve being irritated. This can be caused by DDD or by another condition (scoliosis or arthritis, for example). A herniated disc can also cause the canal in which the nerves pass to become much narrower.

Why, then, would this topic be of interest to injured workers, you might ask. If this is a degenerative problem, then what could work have to do with it? As it turns out, work often has a great deal to do with it. Many people, some say the majority of a certain age, have these degenerative changes, but have no symptoms. Often, a work injury “aggravates” these degenerative changes, making something symptomatic which never was before. It is important to know that an aggravation of pre-existing condition, such as degenerative disc disease, is a “new injury” for workers’ compensation purposes. The work injury need not “cause” the disability; simply aggravating an already existing condition is enough. And that makes sense – after all, if you were able to do your job before the work injury, and then were no longer able to do your job after the work injury, shouldn’t you be compensated?

One of the more common injuries we see in Pennsylvania workers’ compensation is a tear of the rotator cuff in the shoulder. We have discussed this kind of injury previously on the blog. This kind of injury can happen suddenly, or it can occur progressively, over a period of months, or even years. Regardless of the timing, a tear in the rotator cuff can certainly be disabling and, if caused by work duties, make one entitled to PA workers’ comp benefits.

A recent study on rotator cuff tears showed that the degree of pain one suffers is NOT necessarily based on how significant a tear has occurred. This would certainly be of interest to the many physicians who perform Defense Medical Examinations (officially, and humorously, called “Independent” Medical Examinations), who seem to automatically question the truth of a patient who complains of significant pain without having a substantial tear reflected on an imaging study, such as an MRI. This is further proof that medicine is not an exact science, and that the history, and complaints, of a patient must be given true attention.

It is also important to keep in mind that having had some shoulder problems in the past, such as degenerative joint disease, may not prevent receiving Pennsylvania workers’ compensation benefits, if work duties materially worsen the condition. We call this an “aggravation,” and it is treated as a new injury for the purposes of workers’ comp.

There are many different kinds of injuries and conditions we face in Pennsylvania workers’ compensation matters. One common thread in those injuries and conditions, however, is pain. Often, the pain is to a level that is severe, requiring significant medications to obtain relief. Various types of medications are classified differently. Basically, the more powerful, or dangerous, a medication is perceived to be, the more limited the access to the medication.

Starting early next month, Hydrocodone Combination Products (HCPs) will change from a Schedule III drug to a Schedule II according to the Controlled Substances Act. To the injured worker, this is important for several reasons. First, all hydrocodone prescriptions will now require an actual written “hard copy” prescription. In other words, telephone, fax, verbal and email prescriptions are not acceptable. Second, there are no refills available for this classification of medication. Third, any existing refills for hydrocodone prescriptions will be void as of midnight on October 5, 2014.

For additional information, you can visit the website for Injured Workers Pharmacy (IWP), a mail order prescription service used by many of our clients.