If you need proof of how dysfunctional California workers’ comp is—and that absurdly long claim durations have become the appalling standard—see the 23-month ordeal an injured worker endured on the long road to receiving medically necessary care.

Initially injured in June of 2022, this Saroyan Lumber Company Inc. employee did not receive surgery to address a shoulder injury until May 2024. A treating physician first recommended the surgery in November 2023.

Sadly enough, after more than two years, this claim isn’t even halfway through the typical seven-year duration of a workers’ comp claim in California (compared to a US median of three years). Delays and denials of treatment are nothing but good news for entities that profit from a Utilization Review (UR) system so dysfunctional that it keeps injured workers injured, rather than returning them to work.

Below, see the surreal obstacles the treating physician overcame to obtain authorization to deliver medically necessary care. Any human with a conscience scrolling through the exchange below will have only one question: How can this be?

Despite countless examples like this, injured workers and their treating physicians have no reason for hope—the California Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC) is apparently committed to keeping the UR system broken.