By Gerald
Unfortunately for workers in Alberta the WCA (Section 80(1) allows WCB to deny any payment for necessary medical treatment that has been determined to be a necessity by medical experts. The blame for this repressive attitude lies entirely with the Government who refuse to peruse the WCA to delete oppressive powers that have been provided by the Government leaving workers at the mercy of unqualified WCB Medical Consultants who do not have a clue what they are doing which is followed by case managers who do not have a clue what they are doing, DRDRB who don’t have a clue and the Appeals commission who also don’t have a clue what they re doing. Prompt and necessary medical care is required to eliminate or reduce the medical complications of a work injury to prevent workers from becoming totally disabled or god forbid dying because certain medical procedures were denied. The whole system is a total disaster and has been for decades with no improvement seen even after reviews by Doerkson, Friedman and the latest by Norrie, Carpenter et al who probably meant well but dd not have a clue how to improve the system.
Our courts in Alberta would most likely refer to Section 80(1) of the WCA and comply with the WCA rather than uphold the principles of the right to appropriate medical care under the Charter based on security of the person.
