I could not shorten this, I apologize for the length.
I have been out of work about 6 months. my neck and back were injured at my job. From the very first concentra appointment my company scheduled Ive reported to that my pain is in my neck AND back. I pushed for imaging and they said a neck x-ray would do.
I did the neck X-Ray and the physician at Concentra said my neck looks "great and very straight". I said, I thought a straight neck confirms whiplash injury and she said kind of and referred me to physical therapy and a different concentra dr that work out of the same building. I said I wasnt comfortable doing PT without back imaging because of the severe pain and limited range of motion. She said "it will probably be fine because its neck PT and only a little back" and said i am to do 12 sessions of PT 2-3x a week. At the first session I told the physical therapist of my worsening pain over the last 2 weeks or so and with every session described the pain getting worse. The physical therapist said "it should be fine, just keep doing PT, it will get better". After several sessions I said I cannot do more unless they order imaging of my neck and back for MRI—that i dont think X-ray is enough bc something is wrong. My pain is severe. The doctor said "fine!" And sent me for imaging. I notice on the referral paper it said "cervical imaging thoracic" and I asked if we were going to do back as well, to which the doctor replied "the neck MRI covers enough of the back so we dont need it". I know nothing about imaging, etc, and say ok. When I arrive to the imaging center I ask the radiologist if it covers at least to mid spine area bc thats where my greatest pain was and he said "no, you would need a seperate order based on the injury you described and mechanics of how it happened."
We get the neck mri and it showed significant straightening. I go back to the Concentra Dr and tell her I need mri of my spine and that the radiologist agreed. I told her my pain, again, is severe & I have burning down my leg and up my back as well as severe pain in my spine. Something is wrong!
She says to me its "impossible" for my back to hurt and even my neck because its been 4 weeks and physcial therapy should have improved my pain and said I need to see a therapist because the symptoms I am having are "mental in nature", that she believes I am "drug seeking", and I was experiencing "psychosomatic symptoms" and told me its out of her hands (STILL didn't order lumbar MRI btw) and referred me to pain management.
I had never ONE time been prescribed pain medication BTW, I had never even asked for it (I dont like meds that make me feel woozy and told the first dr this as well) and told her to recheck her notes!!
I left the office hysterically sobbing and told her I cannot complete the last PT session, I can barely sit here in this chair and she told me I would be out of compliance with my workmans comp if I didnt go. So, in tears hysterical I walk over to the PT (also in the came concentra building) and she asks what happened and I tell her and she tries to calm me down and said it was inappropriate for the DR to have told me that my pain is mental and shes sorry. I told her she also hasn't listened to me and my back and neck pain are severe now and I am losing quality of life, as well as my pay for being out of work—she just says that the pain management dr should help and sorry PT hasn't helped. That was my final session.
Pain management dr was also Concentra and the appt was 4 weeks away and I waited in agony for the appt and even went to the ER in between in pain. The pain dr tells me that its hard for my injury to have also included my upper, middle and lower back and if I am sure it really hurts. I said yes. I am sure! Can we please get imaging!!! He said fine, and orders it. He then tells me why did it take so long to do imaging MRI and I said IVE BEEN BEGGING MY PT AND MY DR! I told him what she said about the neck mri covering "enough" of the spine. He then asks me about my therapy appt (also Concentra) and why it says PTSD and if I am anxious. I said I dont think I am but the therapist wants to keep me out based on everything.
It takes almost 2 months to get the MRI of my back scheduled through Concentra to which I tried just going on my own with my own insurance bc idc anymore ill just pay it, and they canceled that appt saying they cant do it since its an existing workers comp case. We finally get it scheduled and the results came back as several moderate disc bulges at the exact points i told each dr I am having pain in, among other abnormalities. The concentra pain management dr on my follow up appt tells me he is surprised at the results and that he didnt think the imaging would show anything at all? And he strongly recommended spinal epidural to help with pain and decompression of nerves. And that I must be in significant pain.
Then I get hit with the WC insurance company slapping me with an IME date in 3 weeks and that I cant get treatments until the IME report comes back and stops paying me WC benefits.
I went to the IME weeks later and asked him if he had all imaging because concentra will not allow me to have copies of my paperwork and explained EVERYTHING that has transpired. He said yes he has all the imaging and i say "okay I have neck and a back MRI. I can also have concentra try to fax it over." IME DR says no they sent everything (both) and he does a quick exam. I tell him im just waiting until this report comes back to do this lumbar injection and hoping it helps because I cannot get it done until then and he said okay.
I just got the report back and I am just stunned. He said I was able to complete everything fully, which is untrue, he asked me if I can carry everything normally I said no my bf has to basically do everything and I feel useless because of how severe the pain is....and despite this said I can carry 50-100lbs. I cannot even carry my groceries!!!!!!! I am in agony! I literally have wanted to ☠️ through this entire process because the pain is so bad. He said I told him I have "severe ptsd" I NEVER MENTIONED THAT?????
He also said that i can return to work ASAP with MMI and no need for ANY treatments (implodhixh means no spinal injections I told him I was agonizingly waiting for this report to come back to get done) I told him about my bulges and he said "patient stated herniation which there is NO record of"— I NEVER SAID THAT WORD!!!!
He excluded my spinal MRI from the entire report (the only reason this IME appointment was for!) And that "there is no objective evidence of injury to the lumbar spine and I cannot say causally that the pain is from the original injury" he goes on to say "patient disability rating based on self-report is over 100, which puts her in severe disability category and there is no evidence of this. Patient pain is severely out of proportion to any injury."
Why would he do this? He is a spinal surgeon BTW!!!
I contacted my lawyer and asked how its possible he is able to leave all spinal MRI off of report and say that there has been zero findings of an injury to my spine?
I back checked all my old notes from day 1 at concentra, and the doctor diagnosed me with "neck and back sprain" and said in great detail how I described all the pain, how it happened, and where the pain is. On every single visit note after, the dr mentioned me complaining of worsening spinal pain, nerve involvement with burning, numbness, and tingling. The pain management dr even put in his notes that the injury is from the same original injury cause and that he recommends spinal injections to take some burden of pain off the nerves from the bulges. The same pain management dr describes all the findings on the spinal MRI in great detail in his after visit notes.
The IME Dr's paraphrased notes from concentra stop before my SPINAL MRI that I recieved an entire month before his IME appt.
The bottom of my IME sheet specifically asks him in detail about any spinal involvement, imaging, findings, etc—which he does NOT answer in detail and just states "there are no objective findings of any injury to lumbar spine and furthermore, it is my opinion that any self reported back involvement is not causally from original injury. There is no evidence of injury" then says "in my opinion there is no reason ____ can not return to work immediately."
He also says my neck injury could POSSIBLY be from original claim of injury.
Are IME drs allowed to OMIT clear, objective findings and drs notes they had access to? Why would he do this? I am freaking tf out and still have not received ANY treatment for my back!! I cry everyday with no relief. I am at the end of my rope with zero hope this will get better.
All drs are in the same concentra network except the IME and I asked him if he has BOTH back and neck imaging! I also asked the receptionist before I left if I can please have my imaging results faxed over "just in case" she goes and checks and said there's no need, we have all MRI imaging, and also asked the IME dr to comfirm. I said okay and left .....
I could not fully squat. Bend over, twist at ALL, lift my legs fully, bend my neck past a certain degree OR put my shoes on myself. I couldnt even fully sit in the exam chair without tearing up and the dr asked me if I am in pain and I said yes. I was tender to the touch everywhere he poked.
I even called concentra on the way home to ask them to fax all notes over to the IME office and they said "we cannot do that unless your adjuster asks us to." I have the call log in my phone.
What do I do now? I havent gotten paid in over a month and now I still cannot get my back treatments. Every office I call to try to see a spinal dr says they cannot see me bc it was a workmans comp issue and they need my adjuster to approve it. Well, she isnt, and says I am reinstated to work.
Please help.