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greystoke

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? Virginia

My husband has had lower back problems on and off for years but nothing major that kept him out of work for more than a day or two. He injured his back at work in March 2004, had immediate pain, and has not been able to work since. The company he worked for sent him to see their family doc who had xrays done and sent him to a chiropractor. Their W/C insurance co then refused him to see the chiropractor and sent him a list of doctors to see. He choose one of their doctors and saw him. That doctor referred him to physical therapy. His physical therapist then referred him to the orthopaedic spine center. The doctor there recommended he have a discogram and a myelogram and said that he would more than likely need surgery. The w/c insurance co refused these test and sent him for a second opinion to a doctor that they chose. He saw that doctor and he agreed that he would probably need surgery but suggested an MRI before having the other tests done. My husband then went back to the orthopaedic spine center because he wanted to continue his treatment there. That doctor again wanted to perform the discogram & myleogram and w/c again denied these tests.

In the midst of all of this, we had retained an attorney and my husband was awarded his state w/c claim with lifetime medical.

The w/c insurance co requested that my husband no longer see the orthopeadic spine surgeon and again see a different doctor of which they sent a list to our attorney to choose from, none of which being the one they wanted the second opinion from. We did not know any of these doctors and our attorney choose one for us that he said they had dealt with before. At the appointment with this doctor, he informed us that my husband should not have surgery and that his back was as good as it was going to get and referred him to a pain management physician but then informed the w/c insurance company that he did not believe my husband's pain to be from a work related injury but from a previous injury and degenerative disks. W/C then stopped all benefits pending a hearing which they have postponed twice and have now decided we should go to mediation first.

All of these doctors knew of my husbands prior back history and all of them but the last one had reported that he sustained an injury at work that was the cause of his pain. When our attorney contacted these doctors and directly asked if their opinion was that his pain was coming from the work injury, two of them said yes, and one said it could be or it could be from the degenerative discs. Now, one of the doctors that said yes, has changed his mind and said he does not believe so.

Yes my husband had prior back problems but none that have ever hurt him this bad or this long. He still has not been released to return to work and is still possibly facing surgery. All of these doctor's opinions have been based on xrays that the original family doctor had done and xrays that he had done 20 years ago. None have had an MRI performed.

Our mediation is scheduled for next Friday, and we would like to know what our chances are of winning this. The insurance company has offered a settlement twice now of $15,000 but we have refused. Should we stick to our guns or just take the settlement?
 



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