Print

Mail

wiki links

Doctors detail model for work disease or injury

Doctors at a conference yesterday detailed a procedural model to deal with patients suffering from occupational diseases or injuries.

According to National Taiwan University's Institute of Occupational Medicine and Industrial Hygiene professor Wang Jung-der (王榮德), diagnoses of occupational injuries should be divided into three parts -- prevention, compensation and return-to-work.

Doctors not only have to treat the workers first, they also have to help them apply for paid leave for their rehabilitation and fight for labor insurance compensation, said Wang.

He added that doctors also have to participate in the improvement of work environments to ensure the same situation will not happen again.

By following the model, Wang said, doctors should be able to help their patients return to work safely and in good health.

According to the director of the National Taiwan University Hospital's Department of Environment and Occupational Medicine, Leon Guo (郭育良), strong importance is attached to workers' health in the US and treatments are usually effective. This is not necessarily the case here, he said.

When a worker is diagnosed with a disease or injury, his or her employer usually responds with shock and disbelief, he said, adding that it usually takes a long time for doctors, medical professionals and industrial health experts to persuade employers to face the music.
This story has been viewed 1887 times.