Injured at Work

Answer:

A very common question that people ask is, “What should I do if I get injured on the job in Arizona?” Potential clients call our office all the time and ask our attorneys those questions. Recently, when someone called our office, our workers’ comp attorney, Daniel Garza, responded and said the number one thing you need to be aware of is the rules for how doctors are assigned to your particular case. In most cases, your employer can direct you to go to see the company doctor once, but generally, unless you call our workers’ comp law office, you’re likely not aware that the rules say if you go and see the company doctor twice, then you’ve automatically been assigned to get the rest of your treatment from the company doctor.

If you call us first, we’ll tell you that. We’ll say, yeah, go ahead and go to the company doctor once. Then if you contact us, we can make a referral to doctors that don’t work just principally for insurance companies or for your employer. I guess it shouldn’t shock you that those doctors if their interest is to be paid mostly by the insurance company or by your employer, they may not have your own interests. You know that if you’ve been around the situation so that shouldn’t surprise you. That’s the first and most important thing— see the company doctor once, call us, and we’ll get you to a doctor who doesn’t work principally for insurance companies. Now, what happens though in a situation where you saw the company doctor Tuesday night, and they want you to come back in Wednesday morning at 8 am, and you did, so now, you’re locked into seeing the company doctor? Call us anyway. We’re going to get you – we can refer you to a doctor, an orthopedic surgeon, a neurologist, whatever you need that doesn’t principally work for insurance companies. What they can do is they’ll do a separate examination. People know if they’re in an excruciating amount of pain and then the company doctor says they’re fine, something is wrong with this picture. When that’s going on, call us. Then the doctor we refer you to can if they have medical evidence to support that they could provide better care, they can do what’s called a change of doctor request. Most of the time, those are approved. Then you get a doctor who’s looking out for you first, not necessarily the company. That can make a big difference in your healthcare and in the final outcome of your case. Remember, if you’re injured on the job, call us. The call is free; the information’s free. It can have a huge impact on your health, and your compensation, and your benefits that sometimes can last for a lifetime. Call us now.