Do you have workers’ compensation questions related to the COVID-19 coronavirus?

Pain Management in GA Workers’ Compensation Cases

My primary hope for all my clients is that they recover completely from their work injuries. Sometimes this happens, but often injured workers with serious injuries do not recover one hundred percent of function.

In fact, some people end up with chronic pain from their work injuries.  As a result of this chronic pain, they may require treatment by a doctor who specializes in pain management.

What medical treatment does a pain management doctor provide?

A doctor specializing in pain management will usually offer a combination of two types of treatment in a workers compensation case.  One of those treatments is pain management with medications.  The other type of treatment is interventional pain management.

Woman holding pain medicationMedication management

Pain management with medications will involve some combination of various prescription medications to provide the injured worker with the best pain relief and function with the least amount of side effects.  It could include prescription of some of the following types of medications:

  • Narcotics;
  • Non-narcotic pain medications;
  • Muscle relaxers;
  • Antidepressants; or
  • Various other forms of medication

Generally, if you are receiving prescription medication from a pain management doctor in Georgia, you will also be subject to random drug testing to make sure you are taking your medication as prescribed.

Interventional pain management

Interventional pain management generally involves the doctor performing procedures to try to provide longer term pain relief.  Some common types of interventions that pain management doctors perform for back and neck injuries include:

How long does pain management treatment last?

Pain management treatment may continue for months or years.  Sometimes an injured worker will require pain management treatment for the rest of his or her life.

In some cases, insurance companies may fight paying for pain management treatment because the treatment is not making the patient better.  However, the law in Georgia requires employers and their workers’ compensation insurance companies to pay for treatment when the treatment provides a cure or gives relief.  Since pain management treatment gives relief from pain, insurance companies cannot use that as a reason not to pay for treatment.

Man with headache trying to fall asleep in bed with medication on nightstandWill the workers compensation insurance company have to pay for pain management for the rest of my life?

In July 2013, the law in Georgia was changed to place a limit on how long your employer and their workers compensation insurance company have to pay for medical treatment.  If you injury occurred after July 1, 2013, your employer and their insurance company may now be able to stop paying for medical treatment after 400 weeks from your injury.

While 400 weeks seems like a long time, many injured workers who require pain management treatment will need that treatment for more than 400 weeks.  If you are in that situation, you should probably read our blog article that provides more detail about the 400 week limit on medical.

Also, there is an exception to the 400 week limit even if your injury is occurred after June 30, 2013.  If you qualify for a catastrophic designation, the 400 week limit on medical treatment should not apply.

What if I have other questions about workers compensation?

Georgia’s workers compensation system can be very confusing.  You have to worry about getting the treatment you need and paying your bills while also worrying about not missing any deadlines that could cause you to lose your right to receive workers compensation benefits.

If you have questions, I would recommend that you try to get answers.  To find out more about how to schedule a time to talk to me about your workers compensation questions, just read this short article.

Jason Perkins is an attorney who specializes in representing injured workers.  He regularly publishes videos and write blog articles about Georgia’s workers compensation system and issues that are important to injured workers and their families.

To be notified of Jason’s new workers compensation videos, subscribe to his Georgia Workers Compensation Video Series channel on YouTube by clicking the subscribe button below.

Brittney-lee orourkeBrittney-lee orourke
05:23 18 Feb 22
Amazing! Jason and his team were very helpful and had the best communication by far. Walked me though every step with great detail and had answers for any question I had. They handled my case better then I could imagine, it was a weird case and they stayed on top of it and kept me updated every step of the way! Highly recommend this Team! Thanks so much to Jason and his Awesome team!-Brittney
China JonesChina Jones
18:58 08 Feb 22
I absolutely love this group of attorneys, when I was at my lowest they did everything they could to help me get justice for my injury. I believe if I were to have never picked my phone up and called the amazing group that helped me I definitely would not have received my idea of rights. If you have an issue and are just not sure please understand that they will help you, stay in contact, answer any question you have, and for sure get you the justice you deserve I thank them from the bottom of my heart and I will definitely refer them to anyone who has been hurt because they most definitely care about their work and clients.
Luv LocsLuv Locs
16:08 15 Jan 22
The entire law office was attentive and responsive to all of my concerns dealing with my workers compensation case.
moombimoombi
21:14 02 Jan 22
If you must get a lawyer involved, you’d do well to work with Jason Perkins and his team at Perkins Studdard Law.They were thorough in gathering information and in sharing all the steps in the workers comp process specific to my case. Jason and the team were responsive to my bevy of questions and concerns.I appreciated the informative videos and consultations provided by Jason over video meetings and multiple phone calls.I hope I’m never injured on the job again. However, if I am and if my employer responds as my previous employer did, I’ll contact Perkins Studdard Law immediately to handle the case.
Dana BessDana Bess
23:57 10 Dec 21
Everyone at Perkins Studdard was kind and professional. They were always extremely responsive and answered all questions that I had and followed up to make sure I had an understanding of what was going on along with emailing videos to explain every step of my case so I would know what to expect and be prepared. Jason is a very genuine person and I trusted him with my case. He answered so many questions for me even before I retained him as my WC lawyer. I highly recommend him and his associates at Perkins Studdard.
js_loader

Related Posts

Contrast:

Font Size:

Jason Perkins

Workers' Compensation Attorney

Interested in more Workers Compensation information?

I’ll help you understand the workers' compensation process and how to get the benefits you deserve.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.