Do court rules make it harder for PTs to manage pain in workers’ compensation cases?

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Physical therapists are playing an increasing role in pain management in workers’ compensation as the prescription of opioids has been curtailed over concerns over abuse of those drugs. But at least in the Nebraska Workers’ Compensation Court, physical therapists (PTs) may not be able to meet their increased responsibilities due to their ambiguous status as experts under court rules.  

Nebraska Workers Compensation Court Rule 10 holds that the court may admit reports from physical therapists but are not required to admit those reports as expert testimony.

This ambiguity creates confusion about what a physical therapist can testify to through written report in the Nebraska Workers’ Compensation Court. If physical therapists are going to take the lead in treating chronic pain this could mean that a medical doctor would have to ratify the suggestions of a PT when it comes to treating pain for those recommendations to have any weight in the court.

Physician-ratification of functional capacity evaluation tests performed by PTs amounts to an informal requirement for the appointment of a vocational rehabilitation counselor for a loss of earning power evaluation. I’ve written about the gap or squeeze in workers’ compensation cases when injured workers can go for weeks or even months without receiving either temporary or permanent benefits. In my experience the practice of requiring doctor endorsement of FCE results delays the payment of permanent disability benefits and often burdens injured worker with additional expenses.

I believe the requirement that doctors endorse the recommendations of physical therapists would also serve to delay and make it more costly injured workers to get treatment for chronic pain recommended by physical therapists. Additional delay and cost could make pain management without the use of opioid drugs more difficult.

Lawyers for injured workers in Nebraska should not accept the practice of physician-endorsement of physical therapist reports. I had some recent success in getting a loss of earning power ordered based just on FCE results. (Feel free to contact we directly for a copy of the order) But even in that hearing I made sure that those FCE results were endorsed by a doctor.

The plaintiff’s bar should also look to the legislature or the Nebraska Workers’ Compensation Court rule making process to allow the use of PT reports without doctor-endorsement. Last year the court rejected an effort to allow physician assistants to testify by Rule 10 report by a 5-2 margin. There may be a better chance for physical therapist reports to admitted on the same basis as doctors as physical therapists are already included in the language of Rule 10.

The offices of Rehm, Bennett, Moore & Rehm, which also sponsors the Trucker Lawyers website, are located in Lincoln and Omaha, Nebraska. Five attorneys represent plaintiffs in workers’ compensation, personal injury, employment and Social Security disability claims. The firm’s lawyers have combined experience of more than 95 years of practice representing injured workers and truck drivers in Nebraska, Iowa and other states with Nebraska and Iowa jurisdiction. The lawyers regularly represent hurt truck drivers and often sue Crete Carrier Corporation, K&B Trucking, Werner Enterprises, UPS, and FedEx. Lawyers in the firm hold licenses in Nebraska and Iowa and are active in groups such as the College of Workers’ Compensation Lawyers, Workers' Injury Law & Advocacy Group (WILG), American Association for Justice (AAJ), the Nebraska Association of Trial Attorneys (NATA), and the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA). We have the knowledge, experience and toughness to win rightful compensation for people who have been injured or mistreated.

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