Workers' Compensation

Recent Posts

Getting a Grip on the AMA Guides
Posted on 29 Oct 2012 by Calif. WCAB Noteworthy Panel Decisions Reporter

Lexis.com subscribers can link to the cases cited below. Subsequent to the passage of SB 899 in California, permanent disability is determined by using the American Medical Association’s Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment , Fifth... Read More

AMA Guides Fifth Edition Figure 15-19: Strict or Alternative WPI Rating?
Posted on 22 Aug 2012 by Robert G. Rassp, Esq.

By Robert G. Rassp, Esq. Figure 15-19 on page 427 of the AMA Guides Fifth Edition has been frequently used by physicians to describe lumbar or cervical spine impairments based on the partial loss of function of a sub-region of the spine. This is due... Read More

Getting a Grip on Conditions for Use of the Grip Loss Metric in the AMA Guides Fifth Edition
Posted on 8 Jun 2012 by Calif. WCAB Noteworthy Panel Decisions Reporter

Lexis.com subscribers can link to the cases cited below. The AMA Guides generally disfavors grip loss as a measurement for rating a whole person impairment (WPI). (See AMA Guides Fifth Edition, page 508.) However, a series of recent WCAB panel decisions... Read More

AMA Guides Tip: Understanding the DRE Gap
Posted on 6 Jul 2012 by Robert G. Rassp, Esq.

By Robert G. Rassp, Esq. There is significant confusion in the California workers' comp community about whether a spinal injury should fall into a DRE category I, II, or III. Carefully read the instructions in the AMA Guides Fifth Edition, Ch... Read More

AMA Guides Tip: Understanding the DRE Gap
Posted on 6 Jul 2012 by Robert G. Rassp, Esq.

By Robert G. Rassp, Esq. There is significant confusion in the California workers' comp community about whether a spinal injury should fall into a DRE category I, II, or III. Carefully read the instructions in the AMA Guides Fifth Edition, Ch... Read More

2010 Year in Review: The Top 10 Workers’ Compensation Events in California
Posted on 3 Dec 2010 by Robert G. Rassp, Esq.

In a totally arbitrary and perhaps capricious, non-parametric, unscientific but somewhat peer reviewed way, here are the top ten workers’ compensation events that occurred in 2010. Can you predict what the top ten workers’ compensation events... Read More

AMA Guides Fifth Edition Figure 15-19: Strict or Alternative WPI Rating?
Posted on 22 Aug 2012 by Robert G. Rassp, Esq.

By Robert G. Rassp, Esq. Figure 15-19 on page 427 of the AMA Guides Fifth Edition has been frequently used by physicians to describe lumbar or cervical spine impairments based on the partial loss of function of a sub-region of the spine. This is due... Read More

Should California Switch to the AMA Guides Sixth Edition?
Posted on 12 Jul 2011 by Robert G. Rassp, Esq.

By Robert G. Rassp, Esq. This is a no holds barred editorial commentary. It is not intended to be neutral but it is intended to be factual. We wrote this article to draw the line in the sand in California in the event there is any effort to impose... Read More

Getting a Grip on Conditions for Use of the Grip Loss Metric in the AMA Guides Fifth Edition
Posted on 8 Jun 2012 by Calif. WCAB Noteworthy Panel Decisions Reporter

Lexis.com subscribers can link to the cases cited below. The AMA Guides generally disfavors grip loss as a measurement for rating a whole person impairment (WPI). (See AMA Guides Fifth Edition, page 508.) However, a series of recent WCAB panel decisions... Read More

Getting a Grip on the AMA Guides
Posted on 29 Oct 2012 by Calif. WCAB Noteworthy Panel Decisions Reporter

Lexis.com subscribers can link to the cases cited below. Subsequent to the passage of SB 899 in California, permanent disability is determined by using the American Medical Association’s Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment , Fifth... Read More