SECOND MEDICAL OPINION

Your employer (or their insurance company) may also set up appointments with doctors that they have selected. In most cases, these appointments will be only examinations and the doctor will not provide you with any actual medical treatment. It's important that you attend these appointments because your employer may obtain approval from the Workers' Compensation Court to suspend your benefits if you don't go. This is one of the few areas in which Court approval is required prior to the suspension of a claimant's benefits.

Your employer is not allowed to require you to be examined by more than one doctor in each medical specialty without your consent. You should consult with an attorney before agreeing to an examination with a second doctor of the same medical specialty.

As we discuss in another section, video surveillance by a private investigator hired by the Workers Compensation insurance company is most likely to happen on days when you have been scheduled for a Second Medical Opinion. That's because the Workers Compensation insurance company knows you will need to come out of your house, get into and out of a vehicle, and maybe even walk across a parking lot or climb some stairs, on those days.

Next: Independent Medical Examination IME