Author' opening note: In last week's article The Patient vs The Nefarious Workman's Compensation Board - I presented an outline of a basic strategy for the patient to follow in all matters regarding the WC. This week I shall concentrate on the actual role that the WC plays in relation to the patient vs the organization that the WC actually represents -and why this appears to be so.
INTRODUCTION
There are organizations from where the beleaguered patient who suffers RSD that is the result of a work-related injury obtain help and assistance in their need to deal with the WC. For it is definitely the intent of the WC to deny both medical assistance and a just settlement for injury, under the law. The patient is advised to become legally educated as early as possible and to enlist the aid of a Worker's Compensation specialist attorney. The greatest failing of the majority of the patients that are forced to endure this unjust system - is that they believe that the system, the WC, the insurance companies, the doctors, and all - will deal fairly with the patient. This is not so. It almost never happens that the patient is treated fairly.
Legal assistance - in particular - is one of the areas which is most important to the long term well -being of the patient. A very helpful and most informative legal assistance organization is Prairie Law. This website is that of the "Worker's Compensation Law Forum". Here, are the archives of all forum discussions.
Scroll down the page until you see the link for the archives. Then click on it. You may then either search the archives for a particular topic or begin with the largest index number (about 325 at present) and work backwards (from the most recent entries to the earliest) and look at each days forum.
Within - one may find the answer to - or a great amount of information regarding - all aspects of the WC and its affect upon the lives of many patients. Until the laws are changed - to again - be fair to the worker - there is little hope of getting through this system by "playing it straight" and believing in the people to which the patient must interface.
