Sorry, I didn't see your other questions. I thought they were part of a quote.
The referral prescription was sent to the carrier at their request, I was promised several times by the head claims rep that as soon as she received a response from my physician (their authorized doctor) requesting his recommendation for treatment, my current condition, and whether or not I had reached MMI, she would approve the referral and send me wage loss due up to that point. After they dodged my calls for several weeks I contacted an attorney.
**Contacting an attorney was the correct thing to do.
I was on TTD and officially on cannot work status for eight weeks prior to the referral, and have not been able to return to work. I reached MMI last month.
**Are you still on "cannot work" status?
**Was the MMI done by the Primary Care Physician (PCP)?
The mediation was set after a petiton for benefits was filed pertaining to treatment and overdue wage loss. My attorney made an offer to settle, but they refused.
**This is very important: was settlement offer for medical benefits and wage loss or to settle the case with a lump sum?
Their attorney never entered the mediation room, nor did the mediator. My attorney kept leaving the room to talk to him in the hallway.
**I find this very peculiar and an inappropriate way for the conduction of the mediation.
According to my attorney, after their attorney called the claims rep several times, they agreed to approve the referral and past due wage loss within one week. I then signed a mediation conference report stating that those issues had been resolved, but a final hearing will be required. I don't really understand how it could have been resolved if a final hearing is required.
**Neither do I. What did your attorney say when you asked him this?
Regardless, they have not approved the referral or past due wage loss. My attorney attempted to get the referral approved several times during the past month and said that each time he called, the carrier's attorney was surprised that it had not been done. Prior to the deposition Monday, their attorney acted surprised when asked why the two items discussed at the mediation had not been approved, but offered no reasonable explanation.
**Have you heard anything further about this since Monday?
As I expected, the deposition was mostly attempts to trip me up and catch me in a lie. Each of the two times I asked permission to ask him a question regarding several of the questions he had asked me, he instructed the transcriptionist to go off the record, and each time he avoided my questions, then we went back on the record and he resumed his questioning.
**If the questions were important and relevant, why didn't your attorney intervene?
Immediately afterwards, their attorney walked out of the room as I again asked about the referral and overdue wage loss. My attorney told me that I would be able to enter items pertaining to the deposition on an errata sheet after the transcription has been typed.
I am still seeing my treating physician, but he expressed to me and to the carrier at the time of the referral that he has exhausted his options regarding treatment and can now only offer occasional nerve block injections and prescription refills, both of which provide less and less relief as time goes by.
**Typical.
I know this process has been complicated by the fact that I had a previous injury to the same area of my back 14 years ago which eventually required surgery. I went through the same miserable process then, and finally settled the case eight years after the injury. The letter from the carrier in this case to my doctor 6 months ago specifically asked whether or not this injury was related to a pre-existing condition. My doctor answered that this injury and my current condition were not caused by or related to a previous injury.
**Regardless, it can still be used against you by the carrier, and the carrier will most likely do so.
Judging by what I have described, do you think my attorney is handling this correctly? With the court date set, what are the ramifications of changing attorneys at this point? Since I already signed a contract, what is the process for dismissing my present attorney.
**It's a very easy process.
Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions.