Your Employer Has the Right to Choose Your Doctor When You’re Hurt at Work

If you are injured on the job in Missouri, the law says that your employer has the right to choose your doctor.  Furthermore, the work restrictions the comp doctor gives you must be followed.  So, if you hurt your back at work, your employer can send you to their company doctor for treatment and evaluation.  If the company doctor says you can go back to work, you must go back to work.  If you don't, your employer can fire you without recourse.

Now, you can go see your own doctor for your on-the-job injuries.  However, you have to pay for it out of your own pocket.  Your employer does not have to pay for any doctor you see on your own.  Furthermore, your employer does not have to follow any restrictions your own doctor gives you contrary to the restrictions of the company doctor.  Another problem with seeing a doctor of your choosing for a work-related injury is that most doctors simply won't see you if they know it's a comp injury.

It should come as no surprise to hear that the restrictions a company-chosen doctor gives are often completely unrealistic.  Most times a company doctor will tell an injured worker they can go back to work with little or no restriction when the employee is still in excruciating pain.  Although the law is stacked against the employee in situations like this, quick attention from an experienced Kansas City workers' compensation attorney may provide you with some help.

As an attorney handling Missouri workers' compensation cases, I have had some success in getting clients help in these difficult situations.  If you have been hurt on the job and are getting mistreated by the company-chosen doctor, please  give me a call to see if I can help.

On a related note, a bill has been proposed in the Missouri Legislature to give injured workers the right to choose their own doctor.  Please contact your senator and representative to express your support for this bill.  Information on the bill, HB 701, can be found here: http://house.mo.gov/billsummary.aspx?bill=HB701&year=2011&code=R.  You can find your representative and senator's contact information here: http://www.senate.mo.gov/llookup/leg_lookup.aspx.