Here is another important piece of information, this time regarding Physical Therapy.
We have had some of our clients tell us (after the fact) that they didn’t make their physical therapy or other doctor’s appointment for one reason or another. It might be a sick child. It might be that the client didn’t feel well. Perhaps the person’s ride fell through at the last minute.
Or, we’ve even heard “Well, I just didn’t feel like they were helping me, so I quit going.”
You must understand that when you are in a worker’s compensation case, especially an accepted claim, it’s a lot like being in a fishbowl.
The workers comp insurance company has a defense team that is watching your every move, and just waiting, like a cat standing over that fishbowl, for the right moment to “pounce” and wipe out your case.
We understand that occasionally, there may be things that come up which interfere with your ability to get to a physical therapy appointment. But habitual absence from scheduled appointments will only give the carrier the ammunition it needs to file a motion and stop your checks.
All the insurance company has to do is file a simple paper called a Form 24 that says that you have not been complying with the medical treatment plan by failing to attend the PT appointments prescribed by your treating physician. And you only have 14 days to respond to that Form 24. You should consider it like a nuclear bomb insofar as your case is concerned.
That’s because if you fail to respond within the 14 days, then the Industrial Commission can enter an Order stating that you have failed to comply with your medical treatment plan, and from that day forward, as long as that is true, your workers compensation weekly checks will stop.
So, please do not let this happen to you. Make every effort to attend all of your appointments. If therapy is not helping, then by all means, tell your treating doctor, but do not decide to stop going on your own.
All the best,
Joe Miller
