Dubious -

Never knowing anything about WC (except how lucky I was not to have been injured at work) and no longer being actively engaged in the prectice of law, I can make only limited comments.

First, as a purely technical point, it's the hearing examiner rather than any particular edition of the Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment that is the "trier of fact." But what the Book does is establish the standard under which claims are to be evaluated. Thus, if in fact, by law or regulation, a state has adopted the 4th edition as the standard, and the IME relies on another, the proper objection may be one of relevance, as in, "that's nice, but what application does it have to this proceeding?"

More importantly, if there are significant divergences, they should highlight to the trier of fact (or any reviewing panel) that the IME was pulling a fast one. That said, it's always better practice to raise and thereby "preserve" objections at the time of the hearing. And basing an expert opinion upon inapplicable standard is about as good as it gets when it comes time for impeachment of the witness. Especially if the claimant's attorney can get the IME to read from the edition which is in force in your jurisdiction, and acknowledge that the two standards diverge. At which point the blade is thrust by asking why s/he chose to use the inapplicable version.

Mike

This is what I know on how wc works because I have fighting wc ever since 2003,I had a hearing on April 15th this year again and now waiting to hear the verdict again. We settled out of court in 2007 with an open file and wc renigged on what they said they were going to do so we had to take them back to court again. Wc likes to pick the crumiest docs they can to make you look bad. I should know I have gone to a few of them and there reports are very bad.They try to say that I am exagerating and that I do not have rsd. They are very manipulative. It may take years for you as well but it may not.It all depends upon how hard you are willing to fite because wc will try to pull all bad strings and they will be watching you and hope that you give up. I have been fighting since 2003 and I have not given up yet. I refuse to because this disease has turned my life upside down and I won't let them win. This disease has cost us a lot of money over the years but I keep turning my receipts over to my attorney and in the end will get back every dime we have put out for my rsd. The one big thing you want to keep in mind while fighting wc is NEVER let them close your file. As long as they keep your file open they have to pay for your meds and medical bills for the rest of you life. It is a long road to fite but you are a strong person and you can beat them at there own game. I have been fighting for a long time and I am not about to give up until I win. Good luck with everything. If you have anymore questions and want to pm me you are more than welcome to do so. Good luck on you quest to beat the wc!May God bless you and be with you the whole fight thru.

Sincerely,
Tracy

Whether or not your case is work comp, to a point your WC doc needs to continue care, or risk malpractice action for patient abandonment. If he drops you, his only alternative would be to concurrently tell you that the WC carrier has denied care as they feel your condition is no longer a WC issue, for a variety of reasons which usually must be backed by IME examination or procedural breach by the treater. You should then be able to pick right up with your personal family doc, post-denial. Treatment wise, that actually would be a better plan of action as your personal doc would be more inclined to help you expeditiously whereas the WC doc will usually, only do what he is authorized to do, otherwise he does not get paid. And since you would be getting denied by WC, you should consider filling out all subsequent demographic paper work that the origin of your compliants is NOT work related (justifiably, as you got denied by WC). Otherwise for the same reason, your family doc cannot see you (for a WC injury). Strange, I know!

I completely agree with Screwballpookie. The kind of stuff mentioned is very similar to the stuff I have been referring to in my other posts.

My workers comp / disability fight took almost 8 years. It was intentionally dragged out in an effort to get me to quit out of frustration, and to make my legal bill so large that I would not be able to keep fighting.

Some of the endless dirty tactics that I have seen are “losing” paperwork despite my sending it in 3 times, each time with a return receipt.

Taking a multiple page medical report that obviously supports my claim, and ignoring the entire report except for one half of one sentence, and taking that half sentence totally out of context to try to make it seem like it is contrary to my claim.

Ordering me to take an IME, and scheduling me with a “hired gun” doctor that they were going to fly in from another state (despite there being dozens if not hundreds of qualified IME doctors in my area), because he was guaranteed to deny my claim no matter what evidence I had. On top of that, this doctor specialized in something that had absolutely nothing to do with my CRPS condition.

Without constant (and expensive) intervention by my lawyer, I would have certainly been denied my highly documented, extremely obvious, legitimate workers comp / disability claim. There was no justification for how I was treated except to try to get me to “voluntarily” drop my legitimate claim.

God Bless You All.

Bernclay-

IME docs are the worst. I try to keep a positive attitude that they are just "doing their job" but at times it is hard to believe that they are actual doctors and I wonder how they can actually live with themselves. I have been forced to have many IME's during the course of my disease (over 8 years). One was an OB-GYN who was doing an exam for RSD, one doc offered me a positive report for certain 'favors' and a psychologist who saw me fro depression that I had to see for a second time several years later, after he wrote a report that I did not have depression, the last time told me he saw no change in my depression since he wrote the last report! Many reports, C-9s and other paperwork have been lost over the years, along with partial treatment requests (how can you have a partial surgery). This system is a joke, and when you combine it with a self-insuring employer it becomes a nightmare. I have been waiting 6 months for a decision on a SCS, and my lawyer has had to file numerous objections and other things. Well, thanks for letting me vent, I guess I must just be in a mood tonight, Thanks all Lisa