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CALIFORNIA COMPENSATION CASES Vol. 79 No. 5 May 2014 A Report of En Banc and Significant Panel Decisions of the WCAB and Selected Court Opinions of Related Interest, With a Digest of WCAB Decisions Denied Judicial Review CONTENTS OF THIS ISSUE ...

Lexis.com subscribers can link to the cites below. The recent panel decision of Castrillo v. Catholic Health Care West, 2012 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 454 , presents an interesting slant on a judge’s denial of the applicant’s request for...

By Mark L. Kahn (Associate Chief Judge-Ret.), Arbitrator/Mediator/Attorney - Altman Lunche and Blitstein LexisNexis Online Subscribers: Citations below link to Lexis Advance. Bracketed citations link to lexis.com. Applicant can challenge whether defendant...

The California Commission of Health, Safety and Workers' Compensation held its first 2013 meeting this past Thursday. Here's a thumbnail sketch of some of the more interesting tidbits discussed: Christine Baker, Director of the California Department...

A new study by the California Workers’ Compensation Institute estimates that workers’ compensation payors’ utilization review (UR) programs, which rely on evidence-based medicine, combined with the new Independent Medical Review (IMR...

The Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board (WCAB) has rung in the New Year with new rules, new regulations and new responsibilities for all participants in the workers’ compensation community. It is important to be cognizant of all the changes...

The W.C.A.B. issued two en banc decisions today, one involving Utilization Review and the other addressing the issue of the application of ADR 35.5(e) which requires the same QME to evaluate an employee for multiple injury claims. The second decision...

Karen C. Yotis, Esq., Feature Resident Columnist of the LexisNexis Workers’ Compensation eNewsletter , provides insights into workplace issues and the nuts and bolts of the workers' comp world. Utilization Review and Independent Medical Review...

Two noteworthy panel decisions issued by the WCAB provide further guidance on the Independent Medical Review process in light of the Dubon en banc decision. In the first case, the WCAB affirmed the WCJ’s finding that the defendant’s utilization...

The primary purpose of the newly created Independent Medical Review (IMR) process is to review medical treatment (MT) disputes and issue determinations. SB863 added LC §4610.6 (i) to the Labor Code, which states in pertinent part, “In no event...

By Corey A. Inger, Esq. In the recent wake of the WCAB En Banc decision in Jose Dubon v. World Restoration, Inc . (2014) 79 Cal. Comp. Cas. 313, the IMR process is being very aggressively challenged by some applicants’ attorneys, who are coming...

The California WCAB has applied Dubon in two recent noteworthy panel decisions finding material procedural defects in the UR process when the defendants did not provide medical records reasonably needed for the UR physicians to make a valid determination...

But the $64,000 question is whether IMR will actually reduce medical costs As proponents and critics of controversial Senate Bill 863–California’s latest legislative effort to “reform” the state’s workers’ compensation...

The W.C.A.B. has granted for further study the Petition for Reconsideration filed by SCIF in the recently issued en banc decision in Dubon v World Restoration . The Defendant had filed the Petition for Reconsideration almost 60 days prior to the order...

Recent noteworthy panel decisions show that the applicant would be wise to present all relevant medical reports and records, and citations to the MTUS, ACOEM, ODG, or other nationally accepted medical standards to the IMR reviewer, and that when a material...

The Court of Appeal has ordered publication of a decision which confirms the application of Evidence Code 915 to discovery and privilege issues before the W.C.A.B. The Court had initially ordered the decision, Regents v W.C.A.B. (Lappi) , to not be published...

This case summary below is reprinted from California Compensation Cases . Lexis.com and Lexis Advance online subscribers receive daily updates for cases and weekly updates for writ denieds. © Copyright 2014 LexisNexis. All rights reserved. Frances...

In Garcia-Picen v. Tight Quarters, Inc., the Appeals Board, in a split panel opinion, held that the WCJ incorrectly determined that the defendant’s UR of a treating physician’s request for authorization to provide viscosupplementation injections...

Here are the fourth batch of advanced postings for June, and first batch of advanced postings for the July 2014 issue of Cal. Comp. Cases. Lexis.com and Lexis Advance subscribers can link to the case to read the complete headnotes and summaries. ©...

In Loynachan v. County of Los Angeles , ADJ7144283, the WCJ held that the applicant, who was permanently totally disabled as a result of a 10/1/2009 industrial injury, was entitled to continue receiving 24 sessions of behavioral psychotherapy each year...

Karen C. Yotis, Esq., a Feature Resident Columnist for the LexisNexis Workers’ Compensation eNewsletter , provides insights into workplace issues and the nuts and bolts of the workers’ comp world. Is Hogenson Du(ing) an End Run Around Dubon...

An interesting argument has been raised: Should an applicant be allowed to rebut the MTUS guidelines before the WCAB? In McFarland v. The Permanente Medical Group, Inc., 2015 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS --, a split WCAB panel, affirming the WCJ, held...

If one was trying to track hot topics and trends in California workers’ comp, a good place to start would have been a recent March conference in Oakland attended by many prominent stakeholder representatives. Oakland’s Marriott Hotel was...

Workers’ Compensation Judges are starting to see appeals of IMR decisions where the parties are raising very interesting arguments at conferences and trials. We expect to see quite a few noteworthy panel decisions in the coming months outlining...

A report from the California Workers’ Compensation & Risk Conference, Sept. 10-12, 2014, Dana Point, CA By David Bryan Leonard, Esq. Without pause, Christine Baker, Director of the California Department of Industrial Relations, took the...