The WSIB is being accused of cutting off benefits to injured workers against the advice of medical professionals. Listeners tuning in to the CBC’s Ontario Today phone-in show yesterday [listen to the podcast] heard from a number of voices on the concern raised by health professionals that their recommendations on injured workers under their care are being disregarded by the workers’ compensation Board . These concerns, recorded in a Nov. 2015 report “Prescription Over-ruled” by the Ontario Federation of Labour and Ontario Network of Injured Workers Groups, have led most recently to a formal request for the Ombudsman Office to conduct a systemic investigation of the issue.
Among those calling in to the program, hosted by Rita Celli: injured workers on their own experiences of having medical evidence ignored and benefits cut; physicians and psychologists on medical reports rejected by the WSIB; a legal advocate on how such adjudication practices indicate the unfunded liability is indeed being cut on the backs of injured workers; WSIB President Tom Teahen’s response.