Your Rights to Medical Treatment under the Defense Base Act

If you have been injured while working on an American military base, or as an employee of a defense contractor or company providing services to the defense industry, you may have a right to workers’ compensation benefits when you suffer injury in the course of your employment. The Defense Base Act of 1941 provides a mechanism for injured workers to seek benefits for temporary or permanent disabilities. The act also addresses your rights to medical treatment for your injuries.

What Your Employer Must Furnish

When you have been injured as an employee covered by the Defense Base Act, you must immediately notify your employer (customarily through your immediate supervisor) of your injury. Your employer will typically offer medical care. Under the statute, your employer is required to make available any medical, surgical or other treatment you need, including nursing or hospital care, medication, crutches or wheelchairs, or any other apparatus you may need for recovery, for the duration of your injury.

Your Medical Rights

You have the right to select your own treating physician, provided the doctor has been authorized to provide medical care by the office of the Secretary of the Department of Labor. There may be situations, however, where you lack the capacity to choose your own physician, because of the nature of your injury and/or the urgency of treatment. In those situations, your employer may choose the treating physician.

The statute also mandates that the Secretary must actively oversee the medical care you receive. This requires that the Secretary receive and review periodic reports pertaining to the medical treatment you are receiving. The Secretary may, at any time, evaluate the necessity or effectiveness of any medical care, and may order the employer to change physicians or hospitals. If you lack the ability to initially determine who will be your treating physician, but your health improves to the point where you can make such a decision, you are permitted to request and obtain a change of doctor.

Contact Uliase & Uliase

For an appointment with an experienced New Jersey federal worker injury lawyer, contact our office online or call us at (856) 310-9002. We are available to meet with you weekdays between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. to schedule an appointment with our experienced federal employee injury lawyers. We are open weekdays between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. We offer a free consultation for injured workers.