Hi Semone,
The insurance company may be ignoring you because you are represented. They are not supposed to talk to you while you are represented without your attorney's approval.
I would suggest writing to your attorney certified mail return receipt about your questions and request a in person appointment with him.Have you called and requested a face to face appointment date? If this does not work you can contact the state bar and ask and for their assistance.
I have read instances of attorney's abandoning their clients after a stip. I do not know if your situation would warrant malpractice. You need to contact a malpractice attorney about that. I do not think a malpractice attorney can help you with your workers compensation matters such as ignored surgery approval unless they also practice workers compensation law. Some resources to find another attorney is the attorney search engine on CAAA, AVVO and you can also contact the CA state bar for a referral.
https://www.caaa.org/index.cfm?pg=FindaLawyerDirectoryhttp://www.calbar.ca.gov/Public/LawyerR ... esLRS.aspxhttp://www.avvo.com/You can also let your attorney go and represent yourself with the help of an I&A officer at the board where your case is at.
Another resource for help is I&A officers located at the board where your case is at. You can call or I suggest going down in person and meet with an I&A officer to advise you with your surgery issue. You may be limited to what you can do as you are represented, such as filing for hearing etc. I would bring your case info and surgery approval with you.
You mentioned this surgery was approved. Do you have a utilization review approval for this surgery or was it approved in writing by your claims adjuster? Can you tell me exactly where you are having an issue with this surgery? Since the passage of SB863 doctors have to make requests on a form called RFA form starting 7/1/2013. I have seen instances where injured workers believe their claims adjuster is illegally ignoring their doctors requests. When I ask the injured worker to get a copy of the request they have found it was not being requested on the correct form (called RFA). I mention this because I have found it to be the most common reason now why doctors requests are being ignored.