Having a bad attorney is better than no attorney!

subtlebraininjury.com has information about finding a good attorney.

A big firm may have a subtle brain injury specialist with a support system for that attorney. Don't count them out without inquiring first.

You do not need a local attorney, just an attorney who practices within the state and specific courts. (federal disability courts)

Thanks very much for the link. I will contact them.
Quick question: the NP scores are based on people with my education level?
For example I did only 10% better in maths compared to the control group. I have high level education (PhD) in a field that requires Maths.
Should I take it that they are comparing me with PhDs?
Otherwise it is really a shocker.
Thanks

To Mark from Idaho: Forgive me if I get this wrong (my brain injury = cognition), but it sounds like the 3rd guy knew more. If they all got the same results, and he writes your report, it will show you are not malingering, right? I would document the differences in their training so his opinion is weighted more heavily. Perhaps he can offer explanation as to why the others said what they said. Some of that may be cookbook manual stuff used in computerized scoring or inexperienced clinicians. If you find out that's it, you can reduce their credibility. Also, workman's comp paying extra for copies covers the cost of the copies and personnel's time while making them. If the payment doubled, there no way workman's comp will pay for that (I was a psychologist who did these evals). You can point out the possible bias due to payment, but the other side will probably point out a similar bias if you cash pay the third. So be careful. I hope this makes sense. I have long recovery to go! I wish you the best.

DrSky,

Welcome to NeuroTalk.

The extra pay for extra pages was at $60 a page, an extra $2000 over the statutory allowance for an NPA report. He actually asked me to write as complete a report as possible. He photocopied it and got paid. He photocopied other medical reports that WC already had just to pad the page count. They all did. It was like a snowball. Each successive report included all of the previous reports with pay per page. When I requested copies, they mistakenly gave me a copy of his cover letter comments about being allowed to bill extra for the copied pages.

The previous industrial doctor had a records collection agency compile a stack. He spent 10 minutes with me and billed $1200 for the stuffed report. The employer was self-insured and spent $5000 for reports to get the admin judge to rule against me.

The first psychologist to assess me for SSDI saw how corrupt the WC process had been.

The 1st and 2nd could not believe a WAIS-II of 88 to 99% could have 10% processing speed and 5 and 12% in Wechsler memory without faking. But, the validity scales were 48 and 49 out of 50. I was able to get the raw data and notes ordered by a unrelated but sympathetic neuro-psychiatrist. The Trailmaking Test results were not even interpreted correctly. The difference between the A and B test was substantial but reported as within low normal.

I have seen a distinct difference between NPs who work with neuro rehab in a rehab hospital and those in general office practice.

The bit that I do not understand about this: if you got such a high score on the IQ WAIS test doesn't that already mean you were giving it your best? These were part of the same test no? The IQ tests and the memory tests, even if on different days. Maybe I am wrong.

On a separate note, and I am really sorry to bombard you with questions, it sounds like I cannot do another NPA without informing and sharing the previous results with the new practice?

PS: I contacted the lawyers from the website you mentioned, they say they only take big lawsuits and do not provide paid consultation.

The concern on the tests is that people try to fake answers to look worse than they are. The WAIS is separate from the Wechsler Memory and other tests.
The PhD was just a jerk. He stated that despite the scores indicating no malingering, he did not believe the test scores were accurate. He did not believe I could test so high on the WAIS and low on the Wechsler Memory without faking.

He was not up to date on reading journals. This issue had been discussed in a journal article. The disparate scores are believed to be a direct indication of organic injury. Memory function is impacted greater than intelligence and high intelligence cannot be developed with low memory function.

The scores indicate that high intelligence was developed at the same time as high memory skills. The organic injury impacted the memory because memory is a dynamic real time skill but the intelligence skills are basically an over-learned and historic skill so most of the intelligence remains, just at a slower processing speed.

He tried to blame my low functions on depression based on a few scales on the MMPI-II but the Cripe (Cripe Neurological Symptoms ) analysis suggests those few scales are indicative of organic injury. Few NPs use Cripe because he never widely published his work.

But, there are plenty of neuro psychs who believe they are the ultimate authority and do not think outside the box.

"This scale looks odd. I wonder what it can mean." is not in their though process.

So do you think I can take another one (and pay out of pocket) at another clinic while completely ignoring the one I had? I think they did a bad job (perhaps intentionally) to make me look worse and offer treatment. So if they (work or another clinic) find out, I could just tell them that there were circumstances that meant this test was inaccurate: (a) I believe that there was a bias on their end (2) The test happened during a setback, and (3) I was actually dumped by my gf the day before, true story... I made a mistake of not telling the clinic about it...
I just don't want anyone to think I am malingering, because I am not...

I wouldn't pay a dime for out of pocket test. I stand by my assertion that Nueropysch test is garbage for most TBI's and lean will always be to classify any symptoms as depression/anxiety.

The questions they ask for IQ are a complete joke...simple math problems. Who is the president of the united states. It doesn't measure the head pressure, headaches, vision problems, and brain fog that goes along with taking this test and how exhausted one is afterward.

I get why you want to be persistent because you know the truth but I'd fear you would just waste more $ down the drain when you could be putting that $ for some new therapy you have yet to try.

Bacchisimo,

Could you scan and email the report to me through NT. Left click on my screen name and choose Email Mark in Idaho

I'd like to read what they said that has you concerned.