Any Toxicologists, Pain Mgmt Specialists, or workers comp lawyers out here?

[natasha5687]

i'll try to keep this brief. So my mother was injured on the job somewhere around 2000. Her job gave an early retirement based on disability and she was deemed disabled by Social Security. She never received any monetary award from Workers Comp but she did get lifetime medical payments. She has had 3 different spinal fusions over the years and at this point can barely get around. She see's a pain management doctor on a monthly basis who prescribes her a bunch of medications. She is also required to see a doctor appointed by Workers Comp on an annual basis and has done so. So we'll fast forward to her latest visit. The workers comp doctor has advised the pain specialist that they want to ween her off of all of her narcotic medications. Her pain mgmt doctor flat out refuses to do this. My mother was provided a copy of the workers comp report and get this...since 2012 they claim that she has been testing positive for methadone metabolites and benzodiazepines. She doesn't even know what either of those are. So of course we go to google to see what could cause these false positives and there are many different medications and medical conditions that can cause these false positives. I am actually horrified to find out just how common this is and to even see people losing jobs and being ejected from pain management. I am also surprised that as quickly as I found this information that the workers comp doctor is not at least aware. Her pain management specialist has not said a single word about the urine tests. Some of the meds she is taking are.

Neurontin
Morphine
Cymbalta
Trazadone
Soma
Flexiril
Oxycodone
3 different asthma meds
Blood pressure and cholesterol meds
Thyroid issues


The general thought here is that they are trying to stop paying. It costs them a fortune in doctors bills and medications. Obviously if her pain mgmt doctor even suspected abuse he would have an obligation to cut her off. So...I have a couple of questions?

1. How do we prove that she is not taking drugs that are not prescribed?
2. Why would the workers comp doctors that she has seen over the years have raised a red flag?
3. Can she request that a gas spectrometer test be done. While looking at google it seems that the additional test is what confirmed that the positive was false?
4.What does she do if workers comp just refuses to pay for her meds? She is on a fixed income and I am already subsidizing some of her bills. Additionally, her medicare wont cover any of those meds because they consider it workers comp.
5. She needs additional therapies and they want to implant a spine stimulator but they are refusing payment. What can we do about that.
6. Anybody else find it strange that her pain doctor has never said so much as a word and refuses to comply with workers comp?

My mother can barely walk because of the pain and I can assure you she wouldn't even know where to get the other things she has been accused of taking let alone being able to pay for them. I'm just frustrated at the whole situation. I will be attending her next appointment to speak with her pain specialist because I feel like in the last 4 years or so something should have been said. Any suggestions or advise is greatly appreciated.

 

[gmarine]

Before you take any advice here, go see a Workers Comp attorney. There is no fee involved.

 

[pedro47]

Before you take any advice here, go see a Workers Comp attorney. There is no fee involved.

This is sound advice in my personal opinion. My only other suggestion pick a lawyer with many years of experience in this field and a lawyer out of town.

 

[Passepartout]

No expert here, but it appears to me that a different pain specialist is indicated more than a different attorney. That said, a 'team' effort, where all her medical and legal and family are in communication would provide the best care for the patient.

Jim

 

[Bailey#1]

No expert here, but it appears to me that a different pain specialist is indicated more than a different attorney. That said, a 'team' effort, where all her medical and legal and family are in communication would provide the best care for the patient.

Jim

I agree with you on this! Something doesn't look right...

 

[visor]

Agree on the worker's comp lawyer. Looks like they're just hoping to take advantage of her.

 

[natasha5687]

No expert here, but it appears to me that a different pain specialist is indicated more than a different attorney. That said, a 'team' effort, where all her medical and legal and family are in communication would provide the best care for the patient.

Jim

Thanks all. Because her case is still open for lifetime medical she has an attorney. I have tried to contact him 3 times over the past couple of weeks...he has not yet responded. We knew from her last pain mgmt appointment that workers comp wanted her off all of her meds but had no answers as to why until she was given the report today. No other attorney can take the case until after the previous attorney withdraws himself. Her pain specialist also suggested she see an attorney. While I am upset he hasn't said anything about the drug tests he has absolutely advocated for her and refused to remove her from or reduce any of her current medications. He has told workers comp as much and will continue to prescribe. He said she is in entirely too much pain for him to entertain it at all. I spoke with a friend who is a nurse at Johns Hopkins and she said that she has seen many false positives come through initial testing only to be confirmed false by another more accurate method of testing. She also indicated that it was highly likely that the reason the pain specialist never said anything is because they took the time to do the more involved testing confirming that the positive result was in fact false. Apparently the DEA is very strict about this sort of thing when someone is prescribed the class of drugs. She felt it highly unlikely that a very conservative doctor would put his license on the line for 1 patient especially if they could conclusively determine abuse of any substance let alone one that they had not prescribed. I was able to reach an attorney this afternoon and was advised that this really isn't uncommon and they are hoping she wont fight as this would end their ongoing obligation. The attorney was confident that we could successfully fight this and win but nothing can be done without the cooperation of the original attorney. It is unfortunate that many people in my mothers situation cannot advocate for themselves or don't have relentless family members to do so for them. Just crazy how I can easily identify which medications are causing the false positives (even found a write up from NIH about these specific medications causing these exact results) but someone who is supposed to be trained to know this does not. Thank you guys for all of your support...I know that we will get through this but it really burns my biscuits that she has to have this additional worry (and I have to fix it).

 

[Ann-Marie]

First, how old is your mom? Secondly, you may want to check out what speciality the workers comp Doctor is? I say this because workers comp may use "doctors" who have no expertise in areas of like orthopedic issues etc? I might also suggest that you seek out a physician who specializes in "physiatrist " or spinal cord injuries. He/she will be your primary doctor in dealing with proper narcotic dosages in order to maintain a quality of life. Has there been any discussion relative to the placement of a spinal cord stimulator or ablations to affected nerve roots? Finally, drug testing today is pretty reliable and exact science, so all drugs metabolic breakdown i.e. Soma to a benzodiazepines! Good luck in your quest to help your mother.