The concept of a “preexisting condition” necessarily entails a date before which something was in existence; thus, that condition X preexisted date-certain Y, such that X preexisted Y. Such a condition — whatever the nature of “it” — is normally ascertainable by doctor’s notes, treatment records, etc.
The relevance of whether a certain medical condition “preexisted” a certain date, however, depends upon the issue and the forum. For Federal OWCP cases administered under the Department of Labor, such an issue is often relevant in determining coverage, precisely because an on-the-job injury will entail causation not only regarding “how” and “where” the injury occurred, but further, encompassing whether a Federal or Postal Worker is making a claim based upon a new and heretofore unknown injury or medical condition, or is merely suffering from a condition which “preexisted” a particular date — either the date of employment, the date of claimed injury, etc.
In a Federal Disability Retirement case, whether under FERS or CSRS, filed through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, the issue of a “preexisting medical condition” is rarely of any relevance, either on the issue of “when” or certainly not on the “how” or “where”. OPM will often attempt to make an argument on the basis that one’s medical condition “preexisted” one’s inception date of Federal employment, but presumably the Federal or Postal employee who may have suffered from the condition was able to adequately perform the essential elements of one’s job anyway, but at some point the preexisting medical condition came to a point of progressive deterioration such that it began to impact one’s ability to perform one’s job — in which case it matters not anyway.
In a Federal Disability Retirement application, one should never be fearful of divulging the history of one’s medical condition; rather, it is the here and now which is of relevance: How the medical condition impacts one’s ability to perform the essential elements here in one’s present job, and how it now impacts such job performance.
Sincerely,
Robert R. McGill, Esquire
Filed under: Clarifications of Laws or Rules | Tagged: a condition that existed before federal employment shouldn’t be an excuse for the opm to deny disability but that happens anyway, a poor excuse from the opm to deny medical benefits: preexisting conditions, attorney representing federal workers for disability throughout the united states, casualty and causation issues usually during the federal disability retirement process, causality issues in federal workers comp and disability retirement, CSRS disability retirement federal attorney, fed workers comp claim denied because of prior existing conditions, Federal Disability, federal disability retirement, federal disability retirement and the "pre-existing" condition, fers disability and the issue of where the injury originated, FERS disability lawyer, FERS disability retirement, how to avoid an excuse to deny early medical retirement to federal employees: a condition that preexisted before employment, if a pre-existing disease prevents collecting disability, law firm representing clients in opm disability law all across america, medical causation not an issue under fers csrs disability retirement, nationwide representation of federal employees, one poor excuse an opm disability retirement case worker will attempt to use to deny benefits: preexisting conditions, OPM disability retirement, opm medical reports and casual relationship arguments, owcp disability retirement, owcp opm disability retirement even with pre-existing condition, postal service disability retirement, postal service owcp: sorry but that injury happened prior service, pre-employment accidents and the us postal service, pre-existing conditions and second injuries at federal employment, resources for injured federal workers, USPS disability retirement, what is a preexisting condition and why it shouldn’t be an issue for the opm to deny disability retirement, when the injury originated while working for the us government, while a pre-employment condition is a valid reason for the owcp to deny benefits that shouldn’t be the case with the opm, why causation in not usually an issue in opm disability retirement | 1 Comment »