light duty to no duty

[burton]

I was returned to light duty a month ago but have been in severe pain the whole time. Yesterday I was in so much pain (back injury) I had to go to urgent care. The doctors at urgent care (where I was orginally seen and then referred out) put me back on no duty until I can be reevaluated by my pain management doctor and ortho. I go see the pain management docs next week. It is clear the steroid shots haven't worked and they must move onto facet injections. Can the pain management doctors keep me on no duty until they do the next treatment and see if it works? The ortho has final say on when I return to full duty...but I don't go see them until I have been treated by pain management. So, the ortho had returned me to light duty (prematurely), urgent care took me off duty again- can the pain management doctors keep me off duty (overriding the ortho) until they have done the treatment and hopefully relieved the pain??

[1171]

yes, you can have different doctors with different opinions.
it doesn't mean the they will pay disability.
depends on your state rules whether any doctor has final say.

[Bad Boy Bad Boy]

Set-up your doctor's as a Team management. That was what I had done. I kept my Occupational Work Comp treating doctor as the Team leader. Meaning all and every docot in my treatment circle had to confer with him. Any treatment to everything went through that doctor. Then say when done with the surgeon, he reffer me back to the OCC med Doc for further evals and treatment, including PT and such. One leader, and no one to foil or fool up the mess then.

[burton]

forgot to mention that I am in Virginia.

They haven't stopped my medical benefits or wage benefits....yet. I don't know what will happen if the pain management doc says that I can do light duty while I wait for them to do my next treatment. My job is sitting at a desk and sitting is incredibly painful, especially for hours at a time. If I choose not to go to work and they fire me or say that I quit...do I lose my medical coverage for the injury?

[1171]

no, comp coverage continues.
workers comp is not your health insurance.
it's the employers policy and it continues to protect them from your claim whether you are working there or any place else.

[burton]

so as long as the doctors say I need treatment, workers comp will continue to cover it? regardless of my employment with this company?

[1171]

as long as you have a claim the employer is protected by having had work comp coverage at the time of your injury.

[1171]

burton Wrote:so as long as the doctors say I need treatment, workers comp will continue to cover it? regardless of my employment with this company?

yes

[Bad Boy Bad Boy]

And please calm yourself, you can't worry about what the PM doctor will or wont say. They might say you can't work for months too.

[burton]

Bad Boy Bad Boy Wrote:And please calm yourself, you can't worry about what the PM doctor will or wont say. They might say you can't work for months too.

since I was already sent back on light duty I just think they will say to continue to try doing light duty even though I ended up in the urgent care. I plan on telling them that it just hurts too much, but of course it is their call. It is hard to stay calm with work being so nasty about the whole thing.