Should I trust the workers' comp doctor?
This is a tricky question. Many approach their workers’ comp case with a conspiracy theory mindset— that the doctors chosen by the insurance company or employer are “paid off” under the table. And therefore they will lie on behalf of the insurance or employer.
I have been handling workers’ comp cases for over twenty years. And I just don’t believe that’s the reality.
That doesn’t mean you can trust the workers’ comp doctors or that they are on your side. But it’s not so simple as them being paid off to go against you.
The truth is more complicated. There are a lot of genuinely good doctors working as “company doctors.” They are just employees working for clinics whose whole business model is to keep more injured employees coming in the door, give them minimal treatment, and send them on their way. That is how they keep the pipeline with the insurance and employers flowing. They are given protocols from their clinic employers that restrict the judgment they can exercise in advocating for patients. So even good doctor can be held back by bad policies from the clinic he works for. He may be prevented from referring you to certain doctors, examining you for medical conditions the insurance disagrees with, keeping you out of work when the employer or insurance says you must be sent back, and told that he cannot write letters or testify advocating for your cause in a workers’ compensation hearing.
Even doctors that I don’t consider “good guys” (or gals) are a part of the system. Most of the time the insurance lawyers and judges know who they are. It isn’t that they are corrupt— it’s more that they have a jaded perspective on the world. Judges know enough about the slanted perspective such doctors bring to the table. But that doesn’t mean you will automatically win. The judges know that a doctor may often show a bias or a predisposition to rule for the insurance. But that doesn’t mean the doctor is automatically wrong. You as the employee still have the burden of proof to show that you are injured and entitled to benefits. You just have to trust that if you and your doctors do the job of bringing that proof to the table, the bias of the insurance doctor will show through and you will have the ability to win your case with solid evidence.
Comments