The short answer: Yes. Jones Act seamen have an unconditional legal right to choose their own treating physician. Your employer cannot force you to use a company doctor as your only source of medical care, and exercising this right from day one is one of the most important decisions you will make after an offshore injury in Louisiana.
The Company Doctor Problem
After an offshore injury, the typical sequence is: you report the injury, you are taken to a company-designated medical facility, and a physician affiliated with the employer’s insurance carrier evaluates you. This doctor is not your doctor. They are paid, directly or indirectly, by the same company that is now your legal adversary.
Company doctors have a documented pattern of minimizing injury severity, expediting maximum medical improvement determinations, and clearing workers for return to duty before they are medically ready. This is not always a conscious conspiracy, but the financial relationship creates structural incentives that consistently produce findings favorable to the employer.
The consequences are real. A company doctor who documents your injury as a minor strain rather than a herniated disc creates a medical record that the employer will use to minimize your claim. A premature MMI finding terminates your maintenance and cure. An early return-to-work clearance ends your medical treatment on the company’s terms, not yours. These findings follow your case through litigation and affect what a jury sees.
Your Right to an Independent Physician
The Jones Act explicitly preserves the injured seaman’s right to choose their own treating physician. Your employer is required to pay for reasonable and necessary medical treatment, and you get to participate in determining what is reasonable and necessary by having your own doctor involved from the beginning. This right applies from day one.
Seek an independent evaluation as early as possible, particularly if:
- The company doctor’s diagnosis does not match your symptoms
- You have been told you can return to work, but you feel physically unable to do so
- The company doctor has declared MMI, and your employer has stopped maintenance and cure payments
- You were involved in a serious accident, but received only a minimal examination
- You are experiencing symptoms that the company doctor attributed to pre-existing conditions
One important note: if your employer threatens to cut off maintenance and cure because you exercised your right to an independent physician, that threat is itself a potentially actionable bad-faith act that can create additional liability, including exposure to punitive damages.
What an Independent Medical Evaluation Can Do for Your Case
- Document injuries that the company doctor minimized or attributed to pre-existing causes
- Recommend treatment, the company doctor was reluctant to authorize
- Establish that you have not reached MMI, challenging a premature determination that cut off your maintenance and cure
- Provide expert testimony not tainted by a financial relationship with the employer
- Support a life care plan projecting your future medical needs, a critical component of the damages calculation
In George’s experience over 20 years of Louisiana maritime cases, workers who relied exclusively on company doctors from the beginning consistently produced weaker outcomes than cases where an independent physician was involved early. The medical record is the foundation of your case. Who builds it matters.
The Pre-Existing Condition Defense and How Your Doctor Counters It
One of the most common tactics maritime employers use to minimize claims is attributing injuries to pre-existing conditions, including prior back problems, old injuries, and degeneration visible on old imaging. A company doctor with access to your prior medical history has every incentive to frame your current injury as a continuation of a pre-existing problem rather than a new injury caused by the accident.
An independent physician evaluating your full history and current condition can provide a direct medical opinion on causation: did the accident cause or significantly aggravate the current injury? Under the Jones Act, an employer who aggravates a pre-existing condition through negligence is liable for the full extent of the aggravated injury, but that principle only helps you if a physician is willing to document the causal connection. A company doctor rarely is.
Practical Steps for Exercising This Right
- Get initial emergency care. If you need emergency treatment, get it from whatever facility is available. This is about ongoing care, not emergency response.
- Notify your employer in writing. State clearly that you are exercising your right to an independent physician. Keep a copy. If your employer attempts to deny this right or threatens to withhold your maintenance and cure, document that response and contact an attorney immediately.
- Find a physician with occupational injury experience. A physician who understands the physical demands of maritime work and the Jones Act context will document your condition more effectively than a general practitioner. George can advise on finding appropriate specialists.
- Bring all prior medical records. Your physician needs your full history to properly assess the relationship between the accident and your current condition.
- Keep attending consistently. Gaps in treatment create openings for the employer to argue that your condition improved or resolved. Consistent care with your own physician creates a consistent medical record.
Questions about your case? Contact us or call George Vourvoulias at (504) 584-6300 – free and confidential, 24/7. No fee unless we win.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does my employer have to pay for my independent doctor?
Yes, if the treatment is reasonable and necessary for your injury. The cure obligation requires your employer to pay for all necessary medical treatment, not just treatment they select or approve. If your employer refuses to pay for legitimate treatment recommended by your independent physician, that refusal may constitute wrongful denial of cure and create additional liability.
What if the company doctor and my doctor disagree?
A conflict between a company doctor’s findings and your own physician’s findings is a medical dispute that gets resolved in litigation through expert testimony and cross-examination of both physicians. A company doctor who has seen you twice and a board-certified specialist who has treated you for six months are not equally credible witnesses. The dispute is winnable with the right evidence.
Can I see both the company doctor and my own doctor?
Yes, and in some cases this is strategically useful. Attending company doctor appointments while simultaneously building your own independent medical record creates a documented comparison between the two physicians’ findings. Discuss this strategy with George before your next company medical appointment.
What if I already signed something saying I will only use the company doctor?
Call us before your next medical appointment. Waivers of the right to an independent physician in maritime employment agreements are disfavored under maritime law and may not be enforceable. The courts treat seamen as wards of the admiralty whose rights cannot be easily contracted away. Do not assume a form you signed eliminates your right to independent care.
