Workers Compensation Lawyer in Chicago, Illinois Work Injury Attorney

A reader asks:

My doctor says I need back surgery and it is related to my job injury.  I went to an "Independent" medical examination and not only did this hack say that I didn't have an accident, but he also says I can work full duty and need no further treatment.  How can he say I didn't have an accident when I was working with hundreds of pounds of raw materials?  My doctor is a respected orthopedic surgeon.  Will the insurance company get away with this because their doctor is a crook?

The situation described is not un-common.  Your employer or their insurance company has a right to send you to a doctor of their choosing.  If they disagree with your doctor then we go to trial.  That's one way we earn our money.

We can't guarantee who the Arbitrator is going to agree with, but all things being equal, treating surgeons who have seen you multiple times are given much more credibility than a one time visit doctor who maybe spent 10 minutes with you.  The Arbitrators know who the hired guns are and who gives an honest opinion.  If you testify credibly about how you got hurt and there are no other problems in your case like surveillance or intervening injuries, things will probably go fine.

If they get an IME we just have to go through the process.  It can be frustrating to hear that, but that is why you get a good attorney in the first place.

We are workers' compensation attorneys that help people with Illinois work injuries anywhere in IL via our statewide network of attorneys.  Contact us and we will answer your questions or find the right lawyer for your situation.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

A mechanic called us because he is mad about what has happened to some co-workers.  Long story short is that whenever they have gotten injured, the employer makes them go to the company doctor before they go to a hospital or doctor of their choosing.  In more than one instance these co-workers have been told that they are fine only to later find out that they have broken bones, herniated discs, ACL tears and other serious injuries.  The caller said that the co-workers were told that if they didn't go to the company clinic first (never mind that these particular docs appear to be negligent or hired guns) that they would not be able to receive any benefits.

So do you have to see the company doctor if you are hurt at work in Illinois?

While the employer or the insurance company has a right to make you see a doctor of their choosing for a one time examination with possible follow ups depending on the exam or the stage of the case.  But you absolutely do not jeopardize your rights to benefits by seeing a doctor of your own choosing first.  In fact, in some cases it's the smart thing to do. 

For example if you break your arm and it needs to be set right away, do you wait a day so the company doc can look at it?  Hell no!  Doing that could make an injury ten times worse.

We operate by two rules: 1. Always be honest.  2. There is nothing more important that your health.  So don't let your employer stress you out.  The law is on your side.

We are workers' compensation attorneys that help people with Illinois work injuries anywhere in IL via our statewide network of attorneys.  Contact us and we will answer your questions or find the right lawyer for your situation.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

This question came in from a reader:

My question is can Work Comp make you see their Doctor and go by his orders on stating you can return to work light duty when my own Doctor who performed my shoulder surgery stated I am not to return to work.

That's a good question and a scenario that pops up a lot.  If the insurance company has a doctor that says you are fine, they can rely on that opinion to deny you benefits.  In other words, can they do it, yes, but you do have options.

Option 1 is to try to go back to work and see what happens.  If you give it a go and it doesn't work then all of the sudden the opinion of the company doctor isn't very credible as long as you are credible when testifying.  Of course we can understand why you wouldn't want to do that because nothing is more important than your health so why should you risk it?

Option 2 is to go to trial and pit your doc against theirs.  Injured workers win most of these battles.  But nothing is guaranteed and even if you win you might be without money for quite some time which is really like losing in the end.

Option 3 is to see if the company will work with you.  Often the insurance company tells you one thing, but the employer is a good guy that says something else.  So if your boss wants to listen to your doctor then you might be ok.

Not one option is right for everyone.  You have to decide what is best for you.

We are workers' compensation attorneys that help people with Illinois work injuries anywhere in IL via our statewide network of attorneys.  Contact us and we will answer your questions or find the right lawyer for your situation.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

It's not uncommon if you get hurt on the job in Illinois for your company to send you to one of their doctors.  This could be for a one time independent medical examination or it could be a company clinic.   There are two important things to know about this.

1. You don't have to receive treatment with their doctor on an ongoing basis, but you can.  You are allowed two choices of physicians in an Illinois work comp case and since they are sending you to that doctor that is not considered one of your choices.

2. If their doctor says your injury is work related, you need surgery, etc., the opinion of that doctor is held against the company.  It's not a slam dunk that a Judge would agree with that opinion, but that is usually the case unless one of your choices says something different.  We often see a company doctor go against the company and then the insurance carrier tries to send you to another doctor to fight that opinion.  Technically they can do this, but it is seen as "doctor shopping" and would work against them at trial.  In fact while we don't guarantee a result, we have never lost a case where the company doctor was in the corner of our clients.

If your company wants to send you to a doctor of their choosing you should go, be honest and after it's over write down what happened.  A lot of our clients report that an independent medical examination took less than five minutes and that the doctor hardly asked any questions and didn't perform much of an exam.  These same doctors are the first to say whatever the company wants them to say.

Again, we can't guarantee a result, but we find that when our clients testify as to what really happened at these quick exams as compared with their doctor who spent more time with them, things usually work out for the best.

 We are workers' compensation attorneys that help people with Illinois work injuries anywhere in IL via our statewide network of attorneys.  Contact Us and we will answer your questions or find the right lawyer for your situation.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

A new client came to us after having had one surgery for his knee from a work injury.  After months of therapy it wasn't getting better and his doctor suggested that he have an additional surgery based on a review of a MRI.

As is their right, the insurance company sent this worker to an independent medical examination (IME) with a doctor of their choosing.   Quite often these are hired guns, but many of these doctors are honest as was this one.  In fact the doctor in his report said that he agreed 100% that the worker needed a new surgery and that it was related to the work injury.

Seems pretty obvious that the insurance company should pay for this surgery and the worker can get better, right?  Well apparently the insurance adjuster felt that he should do more therapy first so even though two orthopedic surgeons agreed surgery was needed, the adjuster put her medical "expertise" above them.

Should he just sit there and get screwed?  NO!!!  Not only can we get the surgery ordered by an Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission Arbitrator, but we can find out how much the surgery costs and the insurance company should have to pay a 50% penalty to our client.  In other words, if the surgery is going to cost $50,000, they should pay this guy $25,000 because their behavior is so unreasonable.

If you are hurt and the evidence is on your side the system will protect you.  You just have to proceed forward.

 We are workers' compensation attorneys that help people with Illinois work injuries anywhere in IL via our statewide network of attorneys.  Contact Us and we will answer your questions or find the right lawyer for your situation.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

We are happy to answer any questions that people have about Illinois injury cases.  Three questions we get asked a lot are what are the abbreviations FCE, IME and MMI?

FCE- Stands for functional capacity evaluation.  Basically it's a test that has you perform a series of activities throughout the day to determine if you need any physical restrictions before returning to your job or what capacity you can work in.  It's an objective test that measures not just ability, but also effort.  If you are found to have used a bad effort it can hurt your case.

IME- Stands for independent medical examination.  This is the insurance company's right to send you to a doctor of their choosing to see if you are really hurt, what your diagnosis is, whether or not your problem is work related, what treatment is needed or anything else that they want to ask.  It's usually a one time visit.  Many of these doctors are hired guns or almost always favor the employer.  Some are truly independent.

MMI- This means maximum medical improvement or as good as you are going to get medically speaking.  We don't consider settling a case until a client is at MMI because once you settle you can not get any more medical treatment at your employer's expense.  Sometimes you are at MMI, but still need ongoing physical therapy or a yearly exam.  Your doctor determines when MMI has taken place.

If you have questions about any of these terms just let us know.

We are workers' compensation attorneys that help people with Illinois work injuries anywhere in IL via our statewide network of attorneys.  Contact us and we will answer your questions or find the right lawyer for your situation.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link