Worker compensation system ‘broken’

CARSON CITY -- Lawmakers were told Wednesday that the state's worker compensation system makes it tough on injured Nevadans to get the medical care and follow-up rehabilitation and training they need to return to their jobs.

Testimony during the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee hearing shows the need for reforms, state AFL-CIO chief Danny Thompson said.

Byron Harvey of Henderson told the legislators that he suffered a severe back injury while lifting some sheet metal but it took more than six months to get his claim for compensation accepted, and he went through 21/2 years of treatment.

Harvey said he lost everything in the process.

Curt Garrett told legislators he was hit by a forklift while on the job in July 2005, and was at first told he only needed physical therapy and could return to work. After several weeks, he said he wound up in a hospital where an X-ray showed his back was broken.

The worker compensation process "is incredibly broken," Garrett said.