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A Rough Road- In September of 2007 while unloading semi trailers for the largest company in the world I suffered an injury to my back. I was seen by the occupational health service doctor who after a fifteen minute exam decided that my injury was "probably not" work related. With liability being denied I was subsequently seen by my primary care physician who believed it be work related. I then returned to my employer and requested that I be seen by a second OHS doctor this was denied and I was told that the "probably not" was the position of the company. While reading this please keep in mind that our production rate was set at 485 cases of freight an hour and that in the six years of employment I moved nearly 3,000,000 cases of freight ranging in weight from just a couple pounds to upwards of one hundred. After six weeks of constant pain and bouts of debilitating muscle spasms my primary care doctor referred me to an orthopedic spine specialist. The conclusion of the spine specialist was that my injury was the result of the activities of my employment, this opinion was also dismissed by my employer. With denial of liability I was unable to collect worker's compensation benefits and having been placed on leave and not terminated I was also ineligible for unemployment. It was at this point that I spoke to a lawyer and began the legal process of disputing the denial of liability. Another six weeks passed with no improvement and I was sent to the hospital for an MRI. The MRI showed that I had a bulging disc at T11-T12 with an annular tear/hernia consistent with the symptoms I had been experiencing. Surgery in the thoracic spine is very uncommon so I was referred to a pain management doctor who after reviewing my MRI stated that my injury was a text book example of a repetitive lifting injury. This doctor prescribed several different medications to manage pain but as a result of the medication I was hospitalized for five days with a bleeding ulcer and received three units of blood in a transfusion. Shortly after this my insurance sent a bunch of forms and paperwork regarding all of the care I had been receiving upon learning that it was a disputed worker's comp case they withdrew all payments for the care I had received. The doctor bills began accumulating very quickly. Eleven months and nineteen days from the date of injury my case was finally before the judge unfortunately a couple of the doctors weren't present and there depositions had to be scheduled for later. This meant that my daughters first two Christmas' and her first birthday weren't what my wife and I had hoped they would be. We had piles of bills and with only one income to say we were living on pennies is an understatement. On January 15, 2009 I got a phone call from my lawyer and the court had ruled in my favor; requiring my employer to pay worker's comp benefits and cover all medical expenses related to my injury. This unfortunately doesn't end here I was sent back to the same doctor that didn't believe my injury was work related to decide further treatment. With regard to further treatment he did defer primarily to the recommendations of the orthopedic and pain specialist. The exception being that the worker's comp insurance carrier wouldn't approve even a consultation with a spine specialist that specializes in a new procedure called plasma disc decompression. Whether or not I will be seen by this specialist will be determined in court. As I write this today March 2, 2010 many of the medical bills have yet to be paid by my employer's insurance and we receive collection letters regularly despite the court order for them to pay. I recently had a functional capacity evaluation to determine permanent impairment only to find out that there were only three things relevant to my rating; how far forward I could bend, rotation to the left, and rotation to the right. There is nothing in regards to the ongoing pain, loss of sleep, cost for continuation of medication, or physical limitations. Not to mention that my credit has been destroyed losing nearly 230 points on my credit score as a result of this; on a 30 year mortgage this will raise my interest rate by 3.5% equal to $105,000.00 over the life of the loan on a $130,000.00 home loan. Think about what this has cost me, now consider that the settlement for permanent impairment will be less than $9,000.00 which is less than $20.00 a month until social security retirement age. To say the system here in Colorado (and likely every other state) doesn't work would be a gross understatement to put this in perspective my employer has sales exceeding $400 billion a year so my settlement will be 0.00000225 of one percent of sales. After receiving the impairment rating from the doctor contracted by my former employer, the same doctor that didn't believe it was work related, we filed for a Division Independent Medical Exam. But to further express how badly the system works; the "independent" physician works for Concentra the contracted worker's comp provider for my former employer in the Denver and Colorado Springs area. More to the point Concentra and my former employer are co-defendants in a class action lawsuit, how this provided even the notion of an "independent" exam is beyond me. I wouldn't wish this on anyone and hope that there is some resolution to my situation soon. This is just my story, I know there thousands of people who have stories like mine. Update: A worker's compensation lawsuit against my former employer, their insurer, and their primary care company has been given class action status here in Colorado. To read more about the lawsuit check out this link Wal-Mart Is Sued Over Care. We have now passed the 3 year mark from the date of injury and my case has yet to be resolved and I still have pain everyday. At some point this has to come to an end, there is no reason that this should have been so prolonged other than the large companies in this country want to make it as hard on the injured worker's as possible. What better way to get people to just quit and go away than to show them that they can drag it out as long as they wish and bankrupt you before it's over. It is the height of greed that allows those at the top of large corporations to treat people like this. To say it is immoral, unethical, and down right despicable doesn't go far enough, it should be illegal and hopefully losing several more costly court cases these practices will come to an end.
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