The Defense Base Act affords injured war zone contractors their first choice of doctor for each specialty that is required. If you were so severely injured in the war zone that you had to be medivac’d and treated in the military system that was not your first choice of doctor.
Once you have been repatriated, hopefully AIG, CNA, or ACE took care of this as they are required to, you may choose the doctors and facilities necessary to put you back together mentally and physically.
BUT….. This does not mean that if you made a wrong or inappropriate choice of doctors that you are stuck with that decision.
It wouldn’t be right for the claimant to be allowed to doctor shop until they landed a doctor that would diagnose to order for their claim. For this reason there is a provision in the LHWCA that you allows you to present your request to change doctors to the DoL. A reasonable request should be honored.
If you chose Dr Frankestein by accident, maybe you were on morphine or someone made a bad referral, you do not have let them cut on you or go without.
Do not let your lawyer/and or the insurance company and their lawyer bully you into putting your life into the hands of a doctor you do not have faith in. It’s your life, your body. You have to live with the results not AIG, CNA, or any of the lawyers. We don’t mean to leave the claim adjusters and case managers out of this, they can be as cruel as the rest.
The DBA was not written by sadists, it is often implemented that way, some of the “policy” has been allowed to evolve to this level of sadism, but the DBA was intended to be your safety net, a lifeline when no one else was responsible.
Thats about all it’s good for all these years later. At the least it should be implemented fairly.
907. Medical services and supplies
http://www.dol.gov/dol/allcfr/Title_20/Part_702/20CFR702.406.htm
Filed under: Uncategorized
If you did not initially choose your doctor or specialist then DO NOT proceed with treatment until you have notified the DoL and request a change of doctor. If you are having problems with a doctor you are seeing and want to change doctors, contact the DoL and explain in detail why the change is needed. DO NOT let a doctor bully you into treatment/surgery that you are not comfortable with. It’s your life . . fight for it!!!!