Q: Open WC case but resigned after they changed my wages
I received a broken shoulder while at work by a thief And went back to work 4 days later but taking it easy. After a few weeks my back began to feel numb And was getting ignored by the doctors office when I'd call and complain. I got an attorney (WC) and was instructed to see a new doctor. I resigned after they lowered my wage to an unlivable amount (minimum wage) and took away my Sundays. I went to work for a desk job.
My back still gets numb but the new doctor doesn't seem to know whats going on and the insurance comp is stating in a letter they're going to settle in a month from now. Can they ignore this issue? And are they responsible for the body aches and pains from dealing with.tweaked muscles etc from after surgery ?
A: The Work Comp Insurer is only responsible for 'reasonable treatment' on the body parts it either accepts as it's resonsibility or the body parts found by the Workers Comp Judge to be industrially-injured and requiring further/future medical treatment. If this Comp Insurer only accepted responsibility for the shoulder and denied responsibility on the Spine/Back, it is up to your attorney to get medical evidence sufficient to prove to a judge your back also sustained a work injury and move that question to trial and get an order by the judge. Unless and until this occurs, the insurer can legally deny all treatment requests on the back, so YES THEY CAN IGNORE THAT ISSUE. If you have an attorney, you will be paying them thou$and$ maybe Ten$ of Thou$ands, so you should insist the attorney get the back claim ready for trial immediately and prove the back was injured on the job and needs treatment. If the treating physician fails to request authorization to evaluate and treat body pains in parts not accepted then NO aches and pains from surgery outside the accepted body part will be ignored and not treated and no permanent disability from that pain will be awarded. Seems like it's time for a face-to-face meeting with the lawyer for a timeline in which this lawyer will be taking the denied body parts to trial.
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