This is the letter I just sent to the Globe & Mail. Please feel free to circulate widely to encourage others to write.
Margery
________________________________________
From: flyerwardle@hotmail.com
To: letters@globeandmail.com
Subject: Ontario doctor’s suit claims pattern of fraud at workplace safety board, Sept. 23/15
Date: Wed, 30 Sep 2015 18:12:46 -0400
I’d like to express my appreciation and support to Dr. Steinnagel for her courage in speaking out and for standing by her professional medical opinion of the injured worker she assessed.
Our members have been hearing similar complaints from treating physicians and other health care professionals for years. Indeed, many doctors simply refuse at the outset to treat injured workers, telling the patient they find it too frustrating and time-consuming to deal with WSIB. This forces the injured worker to ‘shop around’ for another doctor willing to accept a new, high-maintenance patient, which of course, is very hard to find.
Therefore, I’d like to encourage other doctors and health care professionals who’ve experienced these kinds of difficulties dealing with WSIB to come forward and speak the truth.
In addition, I call upon the WSIB to publicly release data indicating how many diagnoses and prognoses by treating physicians and specialists have been over-ruled by the WSIB’s doctors-for-hire in the past 20 years.
Margery Wardle
Vice President, Northeastern Region
Ontario Network of Injured Workers’ Groups (ONIWG)
Ottawa office: 613-567-5872
The suit alleges Dr. Steinnagel’s treatment is part of a broader pattern of fraud that is coming to light because the Hamilton doctor refused to give in to pressure from her employer, even though it meant losing her job.