Workers’ Compensation Claim is Not Compensable for Merely Pain Without Diagnosis of an Underlying Injury or Illness

n a unanimous decision, the Tenth District Court of Appeals again affirmed the current law in Ohio that symptoms alone, like pain, can not be recognized an allowable injury under Ohio’s workers’ compensation system.  Edney v. Life Ambulance Service, Inc. (September 20, 2012), No, 11AP-1090.

In the Edney case, the claimant sought workers’ compensation benefits for chest pain he alleged that he began to suffer as a result of his exposure to second hand smoke at the ambulance station at which he worked.  The claimant failed, however, to provide any medical evidence establishing a diagnosis of any underlying lung or chest condition associated with his inhalation of second hand smoke.  Instead, claimant only offered a finding from his treating physician that he suffered from chest pain “NOS.”  His claim was denied by the Industrial Commission and he appealed to the Court.  The trial court then granted summary judgment for the employer and the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation.

On the claimant’s appeal, the Court defined “NOS” as “not otherwise specified” and again highlighted the fact that the claimant had failed to identify any physical condition that had caused his pain.  Pain, in and of itself, does not fit within the definition of any injury under Ohio law; therefore, there was no basis for allowing Mr. Edney’s claim either under a theory that it was an injury or as an occupational disease.  The Edney Court also noted that courts throughout Ohio have routinely dismissed workers’ compensation claims sought only for a symptom rather than a disease or injury.  Claims have previously been denied for angina, arterial fibrillation, and even radiculopathy.  As different forms of pain, these symptoms do not constitute compensable injuries under Ohio’s workers’ compensation laws.