Supreme Court Ruling On Bad Faith WCB Legislation In Nova Scotia

As a result of many years of working on a volunteer basis with injured workers attempting to claim from the Workers Compensation Board of Nova Scotia ,it has become glaringly apparent to me that abuse of claimants is rife within the that organisation. It has become obvious, as well, that the College of Physicians and Surgeons is party to this abuse by its tacit approval, of it members action who are employed by the Nova Scotia Workers Compensation Medical Board. Injured workers groups are now, getting ready to present to this sitting of the Legislature documented proof, which will show, that some doctors who are licence by the C.P.S.N.S to do business under the Medical Act of Nova Scotia, who are hiring themselves to the WCB of Nova Scotia, are stepping over the line. Our group has for the past three years been trying to sit with your office, but we are shunned. Patients are patients first and foremost, but when the WCB is involved we become a commodity or should I say a financial economic burden. Sections 195 of the WCB Act is providing the medical and Health Care Community with a form of immunity and this is ethically wrong.

First Do no harm

This is the popularized version of the Hippocratic Oath that all in the medical profession solemnly affirm upon becoming doctors. It is a credo by which all who are called to the healing profession are expected to subscribe. Of late there have been debates by ethicists within the medical profession as to the relevance of the Hippocratic Oath in today\'s society but, the general consensus seems to be that the oath is a good tenet for all in the medical profession to aspire to.

The exceptions occur if you happen to be a doctor whose first loyalty appears to his income resulting from his position of employment with the Workman\'s Compensation Board in the Province of Nova Scotia.

Hippocrates sold off for hypocrisy.

Here, a physician with years of academic and practical training behind him, coupled with several years in practice that have afforded him additional experience to hone his insight as a diagnostician is required to deny the realities of injuries or conditions extant in those claimants who come to him for assessment.

In most instances, this one individual holds the power to destroy the lives of those who come to the WCB as claimants after being injured on the job.

This healer who has made a sacred vow to & do no harm is now influenced and driven by another master(s) money and politics.

He has literally destroyed lives without compunction . Denying benefits to people who have no options left to them. People who, when they were in good health, were willing and conscientious workers who believed they would be protected by the WCB in the event of injury on the job.

These people found they were in their worst nightmare when they did, indeed become injured and attempted recompense from a system that is devoid of compassion and empathy and will use any and every means to deny what should rightfully be given to injured workers & ; including health care professionals denying the reality and gravity of a person& injuries so as to keep costs down.

People in dire straits are reduced to nothing more than liabilities that represent an outlay of money by the WCB --- regardless of any human cost.

Individuals who are unable to work because of constant pain or loss of limbs have been driven into bankruptcy. Unable to work and earn an income, others have lost their cars, their homes and their marriages. Others have paid the ultimate price when the WCB denied them and, in effect, decided they were worthless to society.

There is documentary proof , in more than one isolated instance, that because an injured worker was denied benefits ( even though it was determined, after the fact, that the WCB had erred ) people became despondent and committed suicide after receiving their final letter of denial of benefits from the WCB.

This organization is devoid of morals and ethics when it comes to claimants. Anything goes. Claimant\'s personal and confidential medical files have become fair game for this organization whose sole purpose appears to be an arbitrary denial of claims based on its history.

One female claimant, who had been sexually assaulted years before in the workplace, has had roadblock after roadblock thrown up by the WCB as it tries to deny her legitimate claim due to a subsequent workplace injury.

This organization has tried, in some perverse manner, to link the previous sexual assault to the present day injury claim. They have subverted law to reveal the sexual assault on this woman, person by reading confidential medical records that should have enjoyed the “patient - doctor\'s right to privacy.

This same organization (WCB) has now become some sort of judge and jury worthy of a Taliban kangaroo court in Afghanistan that would stone a woman to death because she was brutally raped .

And our society smugly compares itself as progressive ?

My question is this, To whom is the WCB answerable for its behaviours? and \" To whom is the College of Physicians and Surgeons answerable for its behaviours?\"

It would appear that it is above and beyond government and the law as there is a litany of stories about past crimes perpetrated by the WCB that have never been challenged . Therefore, one can assume that the WCB does what it does with the complicity of the Nova Scotia Government.

The fact that these things I have recounted here (just the tip of the proverbial ) have been going on for years under Progressive Conservative and Liberal governments would indicate a total lack of will, from a moral and ethical standpoint, to correct the abuses by the WCB.

The WCB isn\'t the only insurance company in this country which is getting away with murder. Other private companies are also acting in bad faith, but the problem is that while a person is injured or ill and can\'t fight, the big corporations can kick them but good. They will force you to see their experts, they will ignore your phone calls, letters etc. hoping to starve you out and then if they can they\'ll get their \'doctors\'to say you can do something. The whole process of selling insurance to people is a sales pitch, backed by nothing, high pressure sales people tell you that you need insurance, it will give you security and what about your family, who will look after them if you are unable to do it? So you feel guilty and start paying, but when it happens and you can\'t work, where is the security, nowhere! That\'s when the real attack begins, they attempt to discredit you, your reputation and your habits. Anything to break you down, anything to make you feel guilty about collecting on the promise they sold you. The entire insurance industry needs an overhaul, bad faith is the norm, not the exception. But in Canada the consequences for the insurance companies when they act in bad faith, slander a client etc, is at maximum with very good documentation, \'One Million\' whereas in the U.S. where most of these companies are based, that same offense would cost them in the \'Hundreds of Millions\'. So doing business ethically or not in Canada is much cheaper! Sell, don\'t pay, get sued, lose and still WIN!

The smiley guy or gal, that sold you the deal is nowhere to be seen while you attempt to collect, you\'re sick,vulnerable and unable to work according to your contract and your doctor; but maybe you could work at \'something\' don\'t you think? I wonder how they pay death benefits? Is she/he really dead, I mean what do \'our\' doctors say, could it just be a little stiffness that exercise could resolve? Yes let\'s put them into a serious rehab so we don\'t have to pay the benefits? Call me sarcastic but these guys take a course in viscious, malicious and slander, so if you\'ve got one of those terrific policies, take another look, and I don\'t mean just read the fine print, read between and around the lines!

Lets not forget that behind these bad Faith Laws or Act are men and women who we have elected to protect us. So, if they are not able to protect us, then what ever could be the reason for running as a party candidate?
Might it be that the political party is over loaded with people who do not have our best interest in mind, but instead put the interest of the party ahead of us. These bad faith laws are put in place under the watchful eye of some well placed lawyers , who are most likely running the party from the backroom.
Just look at the number of premiers and prime ministers who came from the legal profession and just look at the number of law firm that are planted deep into our government.
Bad Faith Laws like the WCB Act and the Insurance Act are put in place to create arguments and we all know that if there is no disbute, then these backroom lawyers are out of work.
In Nova Scotia they mass produce Lawyers through Dalhousie and they produce limited numbers of Doctors, so go figure. Onething for sure, until we get rid of political parties we will all continue suffer. No, you cannot fix the party structure, it is to corrupt, it must be done away with.

chronic pain was an invention of the wcb, and up until it was invented
we did not hear to much about it. I have gone to some of the meetings
of the different injured workers groups to hear this first hand and see
for myself that up until this decision most injured workers never spoke
of chronic pain. one day at the legislature for bill 20 injured workers
stood and said they have chronic pain. these are the same people that
said they never had it befor, but now that they might get some money
they have chronic pain. I sure hope it is not that easy for them, our
system or what there is of it will surely go bankrupt or close. I am
getting sick of seeing all the testimony from the high and mighty
injured. put
some effort into paying your own ways and maybe then things will
improve. for those that can of course.

You force me to speak, do you have chronic pain? Obviously not, I hardly think that wcb created chronic pain, it is what it is, a constant(chronic)pain, there is no way a person who hasn\'t experience this could understand what that means. That being said, you say if they paid for things themselves that would change things! What person would commit suicide if there was a way to change things? Certainly there are a percentage of people who are trying to get a free ride, but really I don\'t believe that people would chose to not produce, live in near poverty if they could do something about it.

Also by your comment, you elude to the fact that they are not paying for \'it\', do employees not pay wcb, they certainly do pay into insurance programs, therefore it is a contract. The insurance or assurance co. sells a contract, a promise, security, peace of mind; if you can\'t work we will ensure that you will not have to worry about finances, you can focus on your health. That is the standard promise. So when a person has the misfortune to find themselves unable to work, it\'s a hell of a shock to find out that the security promised, is not there. In fact the insurance company in many cases is about to become your worst enemy,not a security blanket. Not only will you be facing loss of income, loss of identity, loss of self-confidence along with your new illness and restrictions because of the disability, you will be faced with proving you are not a liar!

There are numerous cases which amount to the claimant having his/her reputation ripped apart by an insurance co. that is trying to deny a claim. So what is insurance?
Check out the Pilot vs Whiten case for the most high profile example, the insurance co. claimed the people burned down their own house, while they were sleeping, even though the investigators said it was an accident. The insurance co. went so far as to try to influence the outcome of the investigation.

If you think people are after something they didn\'t pay for, you need to investigate a few cases. Then relate it back to yourself, think about all the insurance you must have, pay for and how you might feel if that insurance is then denied?? Then we\'ll talk.... or go to the grocery store, pay them for your groceries and then let them take them back, you walk out with nothing...no money, no groceries. That is a comparison maybe you can relate to!

I have to completely agree with you on that one. I spent 3 years battling only to find out that there are documents that have been inserted into my file that are totally false ie: made up and inserted to make me look pathetic and a liar.
I am so disgusted that it's beyond words. I don't know how Insurance Companies continue to get away with their deceit.

I find that since the SUPREME COURT OF CANADA has ruled on chronic pain disability, that it sets a presidence & that every province & teritory should jump on board & make all wcb agencies accountable for all injured workers throughout Canada & show how corrupt they really are.