Workers' Compensation

Recent Posts

California: When to Object to a Treating Physician’s Permanent Disability Determination
Posted on 28 Jun 2012 by Calif. WCAB Noteworthy Panel Decisions Reporter

Lexis.com subscribers can link to the cases and statutes cited below. California Labor Code Section 4062 provides that if either party objects to a “medical determination” made by the treating physician concerning any medical issues not... Read More

California: Was That Just a Reverse Almaraz/Guzman That Flew By?
Posted on 5 Jul 2012 by Calif. WCAB Noteworthy Panel Decisions Reporter

As a result of the February 3, 2009, en banc decision in Almaraz v. Environmental Recovery Services/Guzman v. Milpitas Unified School District (2009) 74 Cal. Comp. Cases 201 (Appeals Board en banc), the September 3, 2009 decision after reconsideration... Read More

California: WCAB Panel Allows Report of Non-Examining Panel QME in Contribution Proceeding
Posted on 20 Nov 2011 by Calif. WCAB Noteworthy Panel Decisions Reporter

In Chirinos v. Heartwood Cabinet , No. ADJ2087163, the WCAB panel found that the applicant’s failure to submit to a physical examination by the panel QME did not render the panel QME’s reports inadmissible for purposes of this contribution... Read More

California: Can a Utilization Review Determination Exceed Its Appropriate Scope?
Posted on 11 Aug 2014 by Calif. WCAB Noteworthy Panel Decisions Reporter

With respect to the increasing litigation over the UR process, is Dubon really the issue in many of these UR disputes? Utilization Review (UR) has been around for more than ten years now. UR first came into play in 2003 when Governor Gray Davis passed... Read More

CWCI Schedules Seminars on New Workers’ Comp Regulations
Posted on 17 Jan 2014 by California Workers' Compensation Institute

The California Workers’ Compensation Institute has scheduled a one-day seminar in March in San Francisco and Long Beach to introduce industry professionals to new regulations that implement key provisions of SB 863, the 2012 workers’ compensation... Read More

California: W.C.A.B. Limits Application of Messele Decision
Posted on 23 Nov 2011 by Richard M. Jacobsmeyer

After seeking input on its Notice of Intent to limit application of the Messele decision prospectively, and getting none, the W.C.A.B. has confirmed its decision to limit the application of its holding. The W.C.A.B. has, in a decision which issued yesterday... Read More

California: Diagnostic Testing: Medical Treatment or Medical-Legal Expense? (Part 2)
Posted on 14 Jul 2015 by Calif. WCAB Noteworthy Panel Decisions Reporter

In the May 4, 2015 issue of the LexisNexis Workers’ Compensation eNewsletter California Edition we reported the noteworthy panel decision of Hubbard v. United Parcel Service , 2015 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 223 (April 21, 2015). On July 3, 2015... Read More

Neuropsychologists and the AB 1542 Veto
Posted on 22 Oct 2015 by LexisNexis Workers' Comp Law Newsroom Staff

A revision of the QME regulations was approved by the Office of Administrative Law in August 2015. One controversial part of these new regulations was the removal of neuropsychology as a designated QME specialty. Labor Code Section 139.2 provides the... Read More

California: Should a Suspended QME Be Able to Write Admissible Medical-Legal Reports?
Posted on 16 Jul 2014 by Calif. WCAB Noteworthy Panel Decisions Reporter

Recently, the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board issued a decision in Gary McKinney v. United Parcel Service ADJ6679833 and ADJ8786254, 2014 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS --. McKinney was a driver/dockworker for United Parcel Service (UPS). He alleged... Read More

California: Face to Face With a Bunch of PQMEs
Posted on 15 Mar 2017 by Robert G. Rassp, Esq.

In early 2017, a PQME referral company hosted a continuing medical education (CME) program for its panel QME physicians in the Southern California area. The first three hours of the six hour program featured an applicant’s attorney, a defense attorney... Read More

Applicant Precluded From Reopening Psychiatric Claim: Cal. Comp. Cases July Advanced Postings (6/29/2016)
Posted on 30 Jun 2016 by California Compensation Cases Staff

Here’s the latest batch of advanced postings for the July 2016 issue of Cal. Comp. Cases. Lexis.com and Lexis Advance subscribers can link to the case to read the complete headnotes and summaries. © Copyright 2016 LexisNexis. All rights... Read More

California: W.C.A.B. Provides Guidance on AME/QME Request Process Timing Issues
Posted on 27 Sep 2011 by Richard M. Jacobsmeyer

If there was ever a question the medical legal process in workers’ compensation has become concerned with tactical minutia rather than dealing with substantive issues in the day to day comp practice, the W.C.A.B.’s en banc opinion in Tsegay... Read More

California: Communications With the AME or PQME
Posted on 30 Nov 2016 by Calif. WCAB Noteworthy Panel Decisions Reporter

When do communications with the AME or PQME have to be cleared by the opposing side? In Lopez Castaneda v. Forever 21 , 2016 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS --, the WCAB, in a split panel opinion, affirmed the WCJ’s finding that the applicant was... Read More

California: If You’re Thinking Navarro, Think Claim Form!
Posted on 24 Aug 2016 by Calif. WCAB Noteworthy Panel Decisions Reporter

In Parker v. DSC Logistics , 2016 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS --, the WCAB panel rescinded the WCJ’s finding and held that the applicant forklift driver, who filed separate claims for a 10/30/2009 injury to his back, a 3/31/2014 injury to his back... Read More