United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

I'm so frustrated I'm about to scream! We are just over 2 months post injury and recieved a call from his employer that he has to call in weekly and report his medical progress or they will ASSUME he no longer wants to keep his job.

His BP injury was an OTJ injury and now they are talking about terminating him because he is not making significant weekly progress on his BP injury! GRRRRRRR

I'm trying to find worker's comp advocates to find out what our rights really are.

We have done one EMG and have a Plexus MRI scheduled for tomorrow, we are still in beginning stages of dealing with this injury and they are threatening to fire him!

I think what they mean is that they will terminate his job if he doens't call and report his progress !!!

First of all never miss calling in. This is important so that you have rounds if they do replace him. Second of all, they can do make you cal in and WORKER COMP may even send a nurse along (ONE THAT IS EMPLOYED) by ythem to the doctors appointments. I know this because my boss fell at work, she has other issues that are making her heal slowly. Over a yar later she still has a comp claim although she never missed a day of work. Just open for medical bills !!! And a nurse goes with her to the appointments and gets copies of everything before she even wwlks out fo the office
GOOD LUCK
Can I suggest you find an ATTORNEY?

GAYLE

Hello, I would like to say that every states laws are different BUT in PA you can terminate one's job after 6 months of being unable to work. My husband was fired 6 months to the day he was hurt(they mailed him a letter to tell him he was no longer an employee).

You are best to find an attorney, as sad as it may be, but that is the only thing keeping us going! Comp will try so many things that will make you nuts unless you have someone on your side!

We have 2 BP experts that have both agreed that Matt will NEVER work again....and the comp DR said there is nothing wrong with him at all, without our lawyer we would not know what to do!

Best of luck to you!
BPI is bad enough you should not have to deal with comp also!

You can email me if you have any other questions

Beth

Thanks for the info, its just so frustrating on top of everything else.

Actually he has a workman's comp case manager, she was assigned the day after his accident. She has been coming to most appointments, recieved copies of all the tests and scripts etc.

I was hoping to avoid the attorney, but think I kind of knew in the back of my mind that we would have to go there.

We are pretty sure he will never be able to do the job he was doing before, but I have witnesses to a company rep stating they would create a modified position for him, so I have a feeling this is going to get nasty and that just draws away from focusing on rehab. IMO

Sorry to hear about all the bad news.....just remember the case manager works for comp and they will do anything or say anything to get you back to work!
They use everything that you might say or do against you.

In PA if the case mgr gets you off of comp, they get bonuses and the lower your med bills are, the better they look.

Just please be aware at all times, and know the laws of your state.

Best of luck
Beth

Well I guess our case manager is out of luck she's not getting a bonus for us!

I got the bill for his airlift to the hospital a little over $15k, and our meds are running about $2500 a month, plus 5 days ICU and 3 weeks hospitalization plus all the on-going stuff now.

Right now the pressure is not coming from comp directly but from his asshole of a supervisor!

Good news, we got a successful MRI today, don't know the results yet, but because he is so claustraphobic and such a big guy he isn't always able to complete the MRI, but a little Valuim and we got it done!!

We have a follow up from the MRI on the 11th so we'll know more then.

When business's pay comp it is rated on how much they have had to pay out. The longer someone is on it the more they pay. Thus it benefits them to get them off as soon as they can. So it makes sense that if they think someone would be receiving benefits for a long time it would cost less to pay a bonus to someone for getting them off of it. This is also the reason that businesses will make a light duty job for the injured person if they can. If they are there working they are also paying less in comp. My husband lost 2 fingers at work about 14 yrs ago. He had skin grafts on his thumb and another finger. They told him they had a light duty desk job for him. But, his friends told us that the "office" job was organizing a filthy store room. I went bezerk!! I went down and was yelling at the work nurse. If the other two got infections he could have well lost them. Needless to say they did not put him in the storeroom. I also told them if he lost any more fingers he would not be the only one working down there short of fingers. After that wonderful display they all layed off. It was a while before they asked if he could do a typing job. So he did eventually do that on a part time basis for a bit. Of course with one hand he didn't really get much done. He hadn't had much experience typing that way.

I remember at the time talking with people at the state comp office. They were very helpful, although now I don't remember what I asked them. His dr was also good. As the business was contacting him trying to get him to state he could come back to work but the dr did not bend to their pressure. I know that some in the office do. So he was lucky in that respect. Remember that you can see your drs. Even if they require you see theirs. I would be sure to have an evaluation by my own choice. Then if you have to go to court you have an objective point, not one that is payed by the company.
Sue

Thanks for all the info, it does help.

When he was injured he was taken to the only Level 1 trauma center in our state, and since then we have been able to choose which docs we have seen. We have asked the referring docs he already been seeing who they would reccomend without considering networks, authorizations etc, just who they would go to for the same thing, and we have been authorized those docs without issues so far.

We have already discussed getting a 2nd eval if they reccomend surgeries or discharing him.

I have been doing some web searches trying to find advocates or other information and haven't had any luck yet.

I found these numbers on the web:
Arizona (Phoenix, AZ)
Industrial Commission
(602) 542-4411 or (800) 544-6488
Not sure if it's what your looking for but they may be able to lead you in the right direction if this is not it.
Also here's a link with some #'s and some info.
http://www.scfaz.com/publish/Informatio ... kers.shtml
Best of luck,
Sue

Thanks Sue.

I had been looking at the state ICA webpage, but there is almost no info there, I'll check out the scfaz site.

UPDATE:

Plexus MRI showed no avulsions or masses!

The orthopededic surgeon for his back and leg showed it to us at a followup appt last week, but we havent reviewed it with the Nuerologist yet
(app 6/11).

My question is with no avulsion and no mass, what next?