Unfortunately they�re saying that I have to return to work before surgery because the insurance co�s PT says that surgery�s unnecessary and that my claims that I am in pain are out of all proportion to the problem. The surgeon I saw yesterday didn�t think they were out of proportion � he thought they were real and he said that even if returning to work might not make the physical condition worse between now and surgery he simply didn�t think I was capable of working based on what he saw. If I haven�t got it all sorted by the time I have surgery I�d imagine that the insurance co will say that the surgery was unnecessary so I shouldn�t be paid for time off required after it. It seems like a no win situation.

Think I should have put that better Sahuaro! I should have said that my employers are asking how they can be expected to force me back. They�ve said that they accept the medical evidence that I�m unfit to work but that they won�t pay me unless the insurance company pays out to them first or do enough work from home to cover my salary (not that they�ve done anything to make that possible or even offered me any work to do in months and not that anyone else was ever penalised for failing to meet their billing targets when I was consistently beating mine). I�ve not been paid anything by my employers since July and at the moment there doesn�t seem to be much prospect of it. They�re avoiding speaking to me and I think I�m probably going to have to take independent legal advice to find out whether I can force them under my contract to challenge the decision or, if they refuse to do so, pay me. It seems to me that they should be treating it a bit like a PI claim where the defendant is challenging the damages rather than running round like headless chickens saying �oh well, it looks like all we can do is give you moral support.� The main problem though is that I don�t know whether the insurance company have a legitimate argument that regardless of the level of pain it can�t harm me to go back. I can�t see how that can be right but I�ve never been in these circumstances before.