In December 2006, my primary physician Dr. Qozi-Habash and I discussed the need for me to see an orthopedic hand specialist for my severe carpal tunnel syndrome and so I found Dr. Auerbach who is recommended on the Sorehand website (http://www.geocities.com/la_rsi/treatmnt.html) and also happened to be only two miles from my workplace. I called Dr. Auerbach’s office and they could not make an appointment without an authorization from Workers Comp, so I call the Workers Comp caseworker Naun Roy and he said I needed to get the authorization from Dr. Qozi-Habash to authorize Workers Comp to authorize the consultation with Dr. Auerbach. So I contacted Dr. Qozi-Habash and she said to make an appointment with her on Jan. 2, which I did.
During that appointment she completed the paperwork for me to go back to work from a prescribed period of rest including a recommendation that I be trained on voice recognition software which was originally recommended by the Workers Comp doctor – Dr. Knight – who subjected me to a formal Workers Comp mandated evaluation. Dr. Qozi-Habash also authorized seeing the hand specialist Dr. Auerbach, so I tried to call caseworker Naun Roy the morning of Jan. 2 and left three messages so that he could expedite the authorization. I wanted to fax him the form that Dr. Qozi-Habash had completed, but could not get Naun Roy’s fax number since he was not returning my calls, so I finally called the main number and they gave me his fax number so I faxed the form to him.
Then at work my boss observed that Dr. Qozi-Habash had written the “date of return to work” on the wrong line since it indicated work modifications and in that case he would need to know what were the exact modifications required. So I called Naun Roy and he happened to answer the phone and he explained that use of voice recognition software was not considered a “modification.” He said he had got the fax and he said he would authorize the visit to Dr. Auerbach and I said I would contact Dr. Qozi-Habash and let her know that use of voice recognition software did not constitute a work modification. He also told me that since Dr. Qozi-Habash was recommending training on voice recognition software he would call the human resources department at my employer to see whether or not they would be able to provide this training and — if not — Workers Comp would be obliged to provide it.
So I contacted Dr. Qozi-Habash and the next day she wrote an addendum to the Workers Comp form using one of her own prescription forms saying “return to work with training on voice recognition and no restrictions.” My employer accepted this and I returned to regular work on 1/3 and also filled out the form from Workers Comp accepting regular employment. Also that morning I called and left a message for Naun Roy telling him about Dr. Qozi-Habash’s note and asking if he needed a copy in which case I could send or fax it to him. He never returned this phone call.
Then on 1/5 I received a notice from Naun Roy that he was challenging Dr. Qozi-Habash’s treatment of my condition, which meant that I would have to go before a panel and face a Qualified Medical Examiner to challenge her recommendation that I return to work with modifications. So I called him and he answered the phone and we had a very stressful interaction during which he completely refused to acknowledge our long conversation on Jan. 2 about the fact that use of voice recognition did not constitute a modification and also refused to acknowledge my phone message on Jan. 3 concerning Dr. Qozi-Habash’s addendum clarifying that I was returning to work with no restrictions or modifications per her note dated 1/3. He said that he was initiating the challenge because she had indicated on the form that I was to return to work with modifications.
Naun Roy told me that it didn’t matter what I said or what Dr. Qozi-Habash said since he was looking at a form where the date was written next to returning to work with modifications (incidentally there is also a box next to that line which is not checked). He also insisted that our phone conversations were irrelevant since he was looking at the form and responding to the form that he claimed to have received from Dr. Qozi-Habash.
However, his challenge to me was dated 1/3 and there is no possible way that he could have had any paperwork to respond to on 1/3 apart from what I myself faxed to him. I can guarantee that Dr. Qozi-Habash’s office would not have faxed him that form and the U.S. mails could not have miraculously delivered anything so fast. In fact the office manager at Dr. Qozi-Habash’s clinic returned just a phone message on 1/5 that I had left her over a week before. So there is no possible way Naun Roy could be looking at anything apart from what I faxed him on Jan. 2 merely for the purpose of expediting the authorization to see a hand specialist.
As an aside it is totally ridiculous that I have to go through such a long convoluted process to see a hand specialist when I am suffering and in need of medical attention, just because it so happens that my injury was designated by Workers Comp to be a work injury. I have my own insurance and they are perfectly happy to cover my medical needs and should be able to access medical care when I am suffering, but I now find that my access to my own insurance is obstructed by a hostile, suspicious, and almost paranoid system that treats me like a criminal just because I was injured at work, and treats my need for access to health care, and my doctor’s intention to facilitate my health care as some sort of malicious conspiracy.
I might add that I would never have filed a Workers Comp claim if my employer had not compelled me to do it. He felt that, since CTS is a work-type injury it was best for all concerned to gain clarification. Now it appears that the Workers Comp system is a free-agent generating malicious mischief for its own amusement. Meanwhile I continue to suffer and my employer continues to do its best to accommodate an injured worker. Of course the employer and we-the-injured taxpayer are paying for this useless, obstructive, and punitive bureaucracy.
The first thing everyone says is… get a lawyer. Of course with lost work time and my livelihood in jeopardy the last thing I can afford is a lawyer.
“Nightmares at Dr. Auerbach’s Office” to follow.
