Quote:
Originally Posted by finz
Hi 72,
Ugh. WC can be a pain and it sounds like you are really getting it from all sides.
I would focus first on the MD coverage issue. WC HAS to approve a doc of your choice to manage your care. Of course, they can (and in my case, do) deny any requested treatment, but they can't refuse you a treating doc.
I understand your concerns about the MDs in that practice being reluctant to write scripts for pain meds. I have a similar issue in needing to find a new doctor, but being worried about if my new choice will prescribe narcotics. It's not like you can ask their secretaries that before getting an appointment......
In your case, I think it should help that the PA is in their practice. If your condition hasn't changed (for the better), how can they say they will no longer prescribe narcotics without implying that their PA never should have ordered them ? I woulth think because of that issue, you might be better off with a doc in that practice rather than trying to find another on your own.
Oh.....and venting here is most definitely allowed !
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Thanks Finz! I needed someone who understood!
I just don't know how the wc insurance folks are gonna react, and I'm hoping (fingers crossed) that we don't have to go back to court just so I can be allowed to see another practitioner in the same clinic. I don't want narcotic pain meds, but I'm afraid I need them. I seriously doubt that going off of them after 29 months is a good idea, and I know if I don't have them for a day I can't move from my recliner, and am crying in pain the whole time I'm there. But, I know that part of this deal is the implication that the PA should not have given the pain meds in the first place, let alone continue to refill them for so long, especially when I wasn't actually going in to the clinic to see him, because wc refused to pay him for an office visit since he wasn't yet the 'authorized treating provider' or wth ever. ugh.
My lawyer sent me to a physiatrist last summer who said I needed chronic pain management, which is what the court authorized the PA to provide, so now I'm just hoping another doc will stick to that plan.
I actually have burns and skin changes on my back from sitting on a heating pad non stop- but the heat is about the only thing that offers some relief besides the narcotic painkillers. So then what? IDK.
I had a HORRID reaction to Lyrica, similar though milder reactions to Neurontin. I mentioned Topamax to the PA last month because I once took it for migraines and had no adverse side effects, but his nurse said he didn't believe it would work on my kind of pain??? Does anyone else know about Topamax for sciatica or neuropathic pain?
So tomorrow, I'm calling the lawyers and the clinic, and we'll get the ball rolling to try to move forward. Will keep posting.
Thanks to all for the support- I can really use it!
