Ontario psychologist
'alarmed by what's happening to WSIB claimants'
Group says WSIB unfairly denying patient claims,
ignoring recommendations from health care providers
November
5, 2015
In a
report unveiled Thursday, a group of psychologists, including Dr. Keith
Klaasen, decried the WSIB's "primitive practice of deeming injured workers
eligible to resume work when physicians have clearly stated the opposite.”
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The
Workplace Safety and Insurance Board of Ontario (WSIB) has "become a
service whose prime objective is simply to not serve," a Sudbury
psychologist says.
Dr. Keith
Klaasen, who has been working with people who have suffered brain injuries
and post-traumatic stress disorder for the last 22 years, is part of a
group of Ontario psychologists who claim their patients are being unfairly
denied compensation.
In a
report, Prescription Over-Ruled, unveiled at Queen's Park Thursday,
the group decried what it calls "the primitive practice of deeming
injured workers eligible to resume work when physicians have clearly stated the
opposite."
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At the
news conference, Nancy Hutchison, secretary-treasurer of
the Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL), said the report confirms
"that the WSIB is more interested in clearing the caseload than supporting
workers who have been seriously injured on the job and who require the benefits
they are entitled to."
Hutchison alleged
injured workers are being ordered back to work against the advice of their
treating physicians, "receiving insufficient treatment because of being
cut off too early, and their injuries are being blamed on pre-existing
conditions in order to deny their claims."
"WSIB impossible to work with,' doctor claims
Klaasen
said that over the last five years "the WSIB has been impossible to
work with."
"We
send out treatment plans and we do not hear back, we call and we're told things
are in process and we do not hear back," he said.
"After
many months, we simply give up. When it is our opinion that someone cannot work
we write detailed reports outlining why. Despite this, our clients get
telephone calls stating they're going to be developing a return-to-work plan
and they need to show up in a few weeks."
Klaasen
claimed that when injured workers inform the WSIB their doctors "don't
think they can work, they're often told that the WSIB worker hasn't looked at
those reports and that they don't really matter."
In a
statement issued Thursday, the WSIB denied the OFL's allegations.
It said
it registers over 200,000 claims each year and takes its responsibility to
injured workers very seriously.
"When
an injury occurs or an illness is diagnosed, the WSIB acts quickly to ensure
workers receive timely, specialized medical care," the statement said.
"A worker injured on the job receives medical care that is significantly
beyond what Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) would cover for someone not
injured at work."
The WSIB
said "92 per cent of injured workers are back at work within one year of
their injury at full wages. Fewer than two per cent of claims are appealed, and
in 2015, we have received the fewest number of appeals since 1989."
Klaasen
said "silence is not an ethical option" for him.
"Just
as with any other abuse of process, we are asking that WSIB be formally
investigated by a body other than itself," he said.
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