[rose]

My name is Rose and I have suffered a TBI, (Traumatic Brain Injury), I have recently had an IMA carried out by Dr Kanji, his findings are a load of bull shit, he had my GP's, Occupational Therapist, Specialists reports etc etc etc. He stated on one page of his report all my medical disabilities but totally contridicted himself in his analysis of my capabilities.

He took it upon himself to make the recomendation to ACC that I was fit for full time work in my previous occupation. He made this assessement even though I had only been able to cope with 24 hours per week which was made up of four days, Mon, Tue (wed off) Thur, Fri. Wed was a rest day. I worked 6 hours per day which was split in two shifts with a 2 1/2 break in the middle when I slept to be able to cope with the remainder of the day.

Because of his report I have had my intitlements cut.

There is no way I can work full time in my previous role as he has stated. I have of course asked for a review of his decision.

I have the backing of my GP who has still been issuing my ARC18 certs but ACC won't acknowledge them as they say Kanji's findings over rule my own GP's.

I have phoned Dr Kanji direct and questioned his qualifications in the head injury field, he told me he has as much experience as any other GP in this field, so why arn't my GPs ARC18"s being accepted? Dr Kanji has no neuropychological qualifications and based his entire assessment on my physical capabilities.

Interestly enough he also stated both verbally and in his reply letter that his findings in no way indicated the amount of workable hours, especially full time work I was capable of.

Well that is funny because ACC say based on his findings they will no longer cover me.

I would love to hear from anyone who has had a similar shafting from ACC after their IMA.

[watcha]

Hi Rose,
You sure have been shafted, the IMA is not for the purpose of determining your capability for work, ACC knows this and has chosen to ignore legal precedent, it is for the sole purpose of determining your vocational rehabilitation needs.

I have been reliably informed that ACC regards court decisions as a decision for that particular claimant and does not necessarily apply court decisions as a matter of policy, it prefers to waste valuable resources, and claimants' time and money, by forcing claimants with similar claims to go through the very same expensive review and appeal process.

You could talk to your case manager and point out the illegality of the decision, but don't hold your breath waiting for a revised decision. He/she has sucessfully exited you thereby gaining brownie points. there is established case law on this very topic, the case name escapes me for the monent but someone will post it here, it may even be in the judgement thread on this site so I suggest you have a look at it.

Don't give up, don't get angry, - get even.

[MG]

Rose - lodge your application for review asap. Find someone to act as your advocate. Get your doctors writing. You will win this if you stand up to them.

[Limoges]

Rose, I have recently been to Review and won the case. The Reviewer took note (quoted in his Decision) of what my GP had stated (along with a Specialist's report) with regards to what I was capable of as well as, no doubt, the dodgy way ACC went about their investigation of me which was communicated by my GP.
As MG says, go to Review asap.

[MadMac]

Hi Rose you aren't the only one that has been shafted by this "Low life"...
The truth will come out ...
must be rather embarrasing for the so called proffesionals...

[doppelganger]

sorry what has happened to you think it is time for all reports from selected Drs to be gathered and anlised with there decisions.

of cause there will need to be the decision from case manager and reviewers, courts and high court.

Rose have you got a copy of the report. was woundering if it is not just the case manager getting points.

it is clear that if his report does not let you have that 2 1/2 hour break to "chill out " you will not be working at all.

[fairgo]

Hi Rose,
I agree that you should file for review ASAP and get yourself a good lawyer or advocate. What area of NZ are you in again?
I was shafted in a similar fashion way back in 1999 by an assessor who was also a GP. My own GP who wrote a very supportive letter outlining exactly why each job was not medically sustainable. I also lodged a reveiw at the same time and lo and behold ACC withdraw their decision based on the assessors' report. Didn't mean they left me alone but at least I earned some breathing space to learn exactly what the whole shafting procedure was about.......
Get your GP to support you in writing and lodge a review.

[Witchiepoo]

Can I recommend that all claimaints BOYCOUT this guy ! People, ASK FOR ANOTHER SPECIALIST ...............

[Karney]

Rose, I would recommend that you request, in writing, a copy of your ACC file so that you know who has said what about you before going to review.

If you can afford it, you could also get your own specialist report from a neurologist or someone else whose opinion on head injuries will carry more weight than this bozo's. If you go to review, even if you do not win, the reviewer can award up to $400 towards the cost of your specialist report. Good Luck!

[Karney]

-- rmv002 ---

[Karney]

I have never heard before that claimants should be given a list of assessors to choose from. Is this written down somewhere? I was never offered a choice and I dont know of anyone who has been. Is this another area in which we are all being cheated of our entitlements?

In a similar vein, does anyone know if there is anything in the regulations that says we have to be given a choice of treatment provider? I didn't get a choice with this either. Have others had the same experience?

[fairgo]

Yes you are most certainly to be given the choice of assessor. That is your right. If you are simply told who you will be seeing write back and ask for the list of all qualified assessors in your area. Also request their respective qualifications and make an informed choice.

[Juscallin1]

Hi Rose,
You certainly do have the right to chose your own Treatment provider. The ACC will try and force you to one of their toadies but your GP has the right to send you to whomsoever he choses. The Case manager has no say in this at all.
My CM tried to intervene in my treatment so told him to ring GP. He got more than he bargained for. GP asked him if he was a Doctor. Then he said he was my Primary carer, not ACC, so get lost boy.
Then the CM asked me if I was going to have an operation. This was told me by the Specialist that it carried no guarantee and was risky. So told CM "NO".
Do you know he replied that ACC could make me have an operation. I told him to go ahead and try and he said well, we could CUT YOU OFF IF YOU DONT HAVE AN OP IF WE TELL YOU TO.
So told the little prick to go right ahead and try it. Well, he ended up leaving ACC under a cloud and I still have had no op.
So stand up to these pricks. But I suggest everyone downloads the ACC Act or goes into Bennett's Bookshop and buys a copy. It is $25 well spent.
Good luck Rose. This Kanji is wrong using an IMA to decide your capacity for work. He was only instructed to see what jobs were suitable for you.
You will win at Review as this is an illegal report.
First get the backing of your GP and a report from as many as you can.
Your ERC may be cut for now but they still have to pay for your GP and Specialist visits.
Good idea, get your file from CM> Ask for the pathways file, physical file, secret file and the one where the payments are made to various providers. That will be an interesting one.
They have 21 days to give you this.
Stay firm and calm and don't panic. Get that Review form in straight away. What area are you in?? Do you have a Support group near you??
Good luck.

[Karney]

Thanks Maungataniwha,
One of the assessors I saw (twice) was a Dr William Turner who was from "elsewhere" but came to Nelson to do these assessments. He could be your friends co-worker. He is supposed to be an expert on OOS though he stated that there is no such condition and that the problem is always a non-injury related myofascial pain syndrome; that it is not a disability and can be remedied by improving general fitness. Then he went on to say that he has RSI himself from writing a book on RSI!!! And despite his daily gym and running programme, the problem still leaves him unable to take notes during assessments and so he has to use a dictaphone. Must say that I left the assessments feeling more confused than when I went in, though this was the same specialist who reported that the job was totally unsuitable for me.

I have also seen a local GP who provided my initial medical assessment, and a local orthopaedic surgeon, plus a worksite assessment, a physio assessment, a pain clinic nurses assessment, and an assessment by a local psychologist. All in the space of a year during which I was still doing the bloody job!
No-one can claim these guys stint on their assessments! Pity they chose not to take any notice of them nor provide the recommended treatment.

[doppelganger]

My memory is a but slow but you might be intrested in this

Quote

It transpires that Dr Turner had previously been consulted by the appelliant through her then counsel< Mr cadenhead in August/ September 1997. Dr Turner had at that time ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

it goes on to say that Dr Turner now worked for the Insurer this is in 1997.

I'm sure I posted the decision in site some were and in it Judge beattie says that 'Review Officer was in any ay by his manner of conduct, by word or deed displaying any bias.

Sure that the whole decision is on the board somewere Irene Eketone 326/ 2000

[Juscallin1]

Hi, There is a lot of info on this site about Dr Bill Turner. He is the highest paid Toady assessor around and that in itself should be enough.

He has a 99% rate of saying people are fit for work. He ignores all the Medical evidence and physical evidence displayed right there for him

Unfortunately ACC accept all his crap and say his decision takes precedence over all the Specialists. He is only a GP with a qual in Occ. Medicine.

He used to be good years ago before he became a toady in the pocket of ACC> Not only does he get a princely sum for writing a report but if the claimant gets kicked off he also gets a fancy bonus. So Nelsonian, Turner made a nice lot of dosh out of you too!!!!!

You must get a Specialist report and get to a good lawyer.

[Karney]

Yeah I have heard some bad press about Dr Bill Turner, and as I said, many of his comments about OOS not being an injury and not being permanent/long term did not make sense to me, given that he has the condition himself and developed it while writing a book quite some time ago. He is still unable to write or type without experiencing a lot of pain. So I'd say that made it an work related gradual process injury with permanent/long term effects, wouldn't you? Duh!

Strangely enough though, Dr Turners report was my main supporting evidence as he said that I could not do my (then) current job due to the pain the excessive handwriting caused me. The reviewer and ***/my employer chose to disregard Turners comments and decided to let other reports override his, even though Turner was "marketed" to me by *** as THE expert in occupational medicine.

[doppelganger]

he can be a good Dr when dealin with his paitents but, when working undre the ACc unbreala he is not being a good Dr.

there should not be a comparasion between the two different occupations.

[flowers]

One wonders if its a family business.
I had my indpendence allowence reassessed by this clown. He was not oermitted to take into account all my injuries so I ended up with less that half of what I had been recieving.
This of course has been reduced further by others at later assessments which occured at three monthly gaps till they got it where it is today.
Strangely at the time the rational from acc was that they were compelled by the act to do repeated assessments but since the last one where I had recovered some of what they had stolen they have not insisted again it is now about 5 years since the last. They must have decided that there was little more they could steal.
My conclusion is that ACC can do these assessments whenever they like as often as they like and lie about the act but when we request a re assessment we are denied and told we can appeal to the monkey court of we wish.
I have attempted to obtain documents from this charleton and had my mail returned unopened.
On checking his qualifications shortly after tha forst assassment I did not find and apart from gp and the fact that he had just applied for musco skelletal with no clinical experience at that time.
I wonder if this is the same guy or a family of slimey toads feeding at the ACC pig trough.

Attached File(s)

•  garesh_kanji.gif (57.63K)
  Number of downloads: 10

[neddy]

Giresh Kanji amongst others calls himself a FAFMM (AUSTRALASIAN FACULTY OF MUSCULOSKELETAL MEDICINE)

To qote from their Australian website
ADMISSION AS A FELLOW

Successful candidates will be admitted to Fellowship on completion of the training requirements to the satisfaction of the AFMM Board of Censors. Those admitted to the Fellowship may be referred to as "Musculoskeletal Pain Physicians".

FAFMM is not currently recognised by the HIC as a registrable specialist qualification in Australia.

HIC is Ozzies health watchdog!!!!!!
Australasian Faculty of Musculoskeletal Medicine Training Manual
another intersting read is
Musculoskeletal Physicians and Practitioners Directory

Alist of Doctors/Specialists in Musco skeletal medicine