What a joke

[Shown]

Workman's Comp is a joke. My husband works in a juvenile correction facility that allows teenager in jail to receive a driver's license, a ged, and a vocational trade (this is where he came into the picture he taught bricklaying).

He brain surgery done on the right side of his brain in November 2005. On May 22, 2006 he was involved in a gang fight, he went all the way to the ground with a student, cutting up the right elbow, the left elbow, the left shoulder blade, the right side his glasses got messed up, his right ear was red and the right side of his neck was really swollen. He saw the wc doc about the neck a week after it happened, it took me screaming at his job to get him in to see a doc, even after the doc saw him at school and called school and said I need to see him in my office they were still picking their noses until I called the director on a plane screaming at the man, he finally got to see a doc.

Now, well actually in July, he started showing signs of brain injury, well they are saying they will not cover his brain, they will treat him for the right arm, the right shoulder, and the right side of the neck but they will not treat the right sign of the brain. I have a 47 year old husband that cann't leave our house, he is not sure if he will remember how to get home, he has no short term memory, and his physical strength is declining daily. the company has stopped his pay checks and he cannot work.

We continue to see our primary care doc and he is noting all the problems because he knows he was getting well from the brain surgery and that this is a work injury. I just want to pull my hair out right now.

Thanks for the vent.

Shown

[Braindrain]

I'm so sorry that you and your husband are going through all this! The
people at WC should put themselves in his place: how would they feel
if they or one of their family members was going through all this?!:mad:

I hope that everything works out in your favor.

((((((((Shown))))))))

[elle]

Dealing with WC is a major pain!!! I am so sorry you all are going through this now- especially since your husband is having so much difficulty. :( It's really not fair that they are refusing to cover his post-surgical brain injury.

Have you thought about getting a lawyer? Sometimes these WC insurance co's will say all sorts of things because they believe you don't know any better. And unfortunately, most of us DON"T know any better. I ate thousands of dollars worth of medical expanses, missed paychecks, etc because of bad info from the WC insurance co. It may be worth the expense to jave his case investigated by a good attorney.

[Bitzer]

The one thing I've learned from trips to ER for Workers' Comp. injury was get a lawyer this from the doctors at the ER, cause if an injury wasn't named at the time of the first exam you'll have a hard time getting it covered. When my wrist developed arthritis from using a cane and a broken toe from an injury to my back and hip it took the WC Board Judge to make the insurance realize is was a product from the orginal injury.

This may be repeating what elle said but look into an attorney that deals with WC cause it takes one with knowlegde of the way insurance companies operate to help you get through this. I trusted the insurance company for 3 months until ER doctor said don't TRUST them they aren't looking out for you and neither is the company you work for. And the company I worked for was on my side until the insurance told them not to talk to me about my injury.

It's been 9 yrs of dealing with WC and it's still on going so you really need to realize it will always be on going and when one injury leads to another to another, etc. the attorney and a doctor who knows the case is you first line of defense, and you'll always feel like you have to defend yourself.

But don't give up the fight but just put the fight in the hands of a good attorney.

[Shown]

Company was being friendly here to until we got a WC attorney, I just want to scream sometimes though, they are being so slow I see him slipping away (mentally) everyday.

Shown

[tshadow]

I am (was) a work comp attorney for the insurance companies. A very sad fact about work comp is how slow it is. My injury took almost 4 years to finally get the surgery that most people would have had within 6 months.

However, having said that, another very BAD part of work comp is that so many of the applicant attorneys do not do their work promptly. They are used to letting cases just go, and get as bad as they can get, and then they want to settle them out for the top dollar and get their money and be done with you.

That is not how the system is supposed to work. The attorney is supposed to be helping to orchestrate and move forward your medical treatment. The attorney is supposed to be keeping an eye on the type of doctors you have, to make sure the right reports are being built for your case. And, if you have a situation where you're not getting important treatment at the right time, there ARE defnitely emergency type hearings your lawyer can file so that within one months' time you can see a judge and have the issue judged.

I am sensing that you are not getting timely care. Am I right? If so, make sure your doctors are putting what treatment you need in their report, and you take that report to your attorney, (via an appointment or just show up in the afternoon in his office), and say, based upon this report, please file an emergency hearing.

See most of the attorneys have staff that open the mail, put the reports in the file, etc., and your attorney may not really know what's going on specifically in your case. So you have to be ACTIVE in your case - get EACH report every time it is "ISSUED" (legal term) and you have a right to it via HIPAA...but you may need to remind them of that, and it helps if you have a fax, so they don't have to be bothered to mail it.

I will try to rewrite my helping notes when I can - but I am so sick and have forgotten so much...

But get on this case for your husband's stake, and do not despair or give up. They are hoping you will. That's how about 1/4 of these cases just "go away."

God bless.

[Shown]

Thank you so much for your replies. No we are not just gonna go away. He was working until they let him get hurt. I just wonder what all is he forgetting, what will he not remember. Hope he never forgets who I am, that is such a fear of mine. I tell him please don't forget me. We have been together since I was 16 and he was 18 almost 30 yers now, I don't know life without him however it doesn't matter I will still be there for him even if he forgets who I am.

I will continue to fight to someone hears me and believes me and helps my James.

Shown

[BK2007]

I'm new here and just came across this thread. I agree with the comments about workers' comp insurance rip-offs. It's criminal the way the insurance companies and their contract ****** cheat people. (Can you say ****** on this forum?)

I just want to add something that may be useful. I had a head injury in my forties. I had pain, loss of cognitive function, and memory loss. I took pain killers when I worked to get through the day. After a couple years I tried taking melatonin (3mg) to help me sleep. This is a natural, non-prescription supplement. It not only made me sleep more deeply, I woke feeling more refreshed and after a week or two I noticed my symptoms were improving. I stopped taking the melatonin shortly afterwards because I was sleeping fine again. But, this was the turning point that started getting me back to normal. And I did get all the way back to normal. No doctor ever recommended melatonin to me. I discovered it on my own. Maybe it can help your husband. I think that good sleep is recognized as being important to healing.