AUSTIN -- Workers sickened by progressive inflammatory neuropathy at meat-packing plants in three states have been on their own financially, but relief may be around the corner.

Slaughterhouse workers at Quality Pork Processors in Austin who continue their jobs, despite neurological symptoms from PIN, still get paid.

Yet out-of-pocket medical costs and work lost because of illness combine to strain family finances. So far, most workers apparently have been unable to get workers' compensation benefits.

By March, 17 people nationwide had confirmed cases of the newly described illness. Investigators suggest the condition might come from exposure to a process that uses high-pressure air to harvest brain tissue.

All three plants with sickened workers used the procedure, including QPP, Indiana Packers Corp. in Delphi, Ind., and the Hormel plant in Fremont, Neb. U.S. Rep. Tim Walz of Minnesota said none of the workers have received workers' compensation.

"They've asked for workers' comp benefits and been denied," said Paul Dahlberg, a Rochester attorney representing some workers. Dahlberg said Monday that he's not aware of anyone who has received workers' compensation yet.

A spokesman for the Minnesota office of Occupational Safety and Health said it's typical for workers to get a denial at first when dealing with an illness of unknown cause. Investigators, however, have said PIN is work-related.

Walz said he sent a letter to the secretary of labor and also asked the secretary of health and human services to intervene and officially declare PIN work-related.

"We do believe it's going to come through," Walz said in a telephone interview from Washington, D.C. He said workers deserve compensation for medical costs and lost work.

QPP CEO Kelly Wadding said the company's insurance provider recently accepted several workers' claims for workers' compensation. Getting reimbursement for medical and lost-work costs will take time, though. That's because lost work and medical costs must be reviewed to see if it qualifies (treatment for diabetes, for example, would not qualify).

"We filed these claims a long time ago. The process takes this long," Wadding said. Anybody with confirmed PIN, Wadding said, would probably qualify for workers' comp. That could relieve financial strain.

"There's some significant financial issues for some of these people," Walz said. To get compensation, workers, including those affected by PIN, must prove the injury is work-related.

"I think it's pretty obvious that's the case," Walz said.