While impairment ratings under the federal Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act generally need not be comply with the AMA Guides, such is not the case for claims involving hearing loss and retiree benefits [see 33 U.S.C.S §§ 902... Read More
Construing Colo. Rev. Stat. Ann. §§ 101(3)(a)(I) and 101(3.7), pursuant to which impairment ratings in workers’ compensation claims must be “based on” the revised third edition of AMA Guides, a Colorado appellate court said... Read More
The language in Kan. Stat. Ann. 2019 Supp. § 44-510e(a)(2)(B) requiring use of the 6th Edition of the American Medical Association's Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment should reasonably be interpreted as a "guideline,"... Read More
The State of Vermont, as employer, did not waive the affirmative defense of statute of limitations when it agreed to claimant’s Fall 2010 request for an impairment rating related to his January 1996 work-related injury. While a lower court did err... Read More
Where an injured worker’s medical expert opined that utilizing Advisories 2003–10 and 2003–10b—and not the AMA Guides—the worker, who underwent four surgeries, including a spinal fusion and a laminectomy, had a 20 percent... Read More
This list of recent noteworthy cases was compiled by Keith J. Kasper of McCormick, Fitzpatrick, Kasper & Buchard, PC. Chadwick Best an Attorney from Michigan will be filling the vacant Specialist II position at the Department SUPERIOR... Read More
The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania held that one legal effect of the recent decision of the state’s Supreme Court, in Protz v. Workers' Comp. Appeal Bd. (Derry Area Sch. Dist.) , 161 A.3d 827 (Pa. 2017), was essentially to undermine the... Read More
Where settlement in 2002 (via Vermont’s Form 22) of the PPD segment of a workers’ compensation claim was based upon a physician’s use of the AMA Guides’ Diagnosis Related Estimate (“DRE”) and, six years later, two different... Read More
A Kentucky statute, Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 342.7305(2), which provides workers’ compensation benefits for occupational hearing loss only where a claimant’s binaural hearing impairment, converted to impairment of the whole person, results... Read More
It was appropriate for the ALJ to disregard the portion of the injured worker’s medical expert witness testimony that related to visual impairment where the expert, in assessing the overall permanent impairment of the injured worker, based his that... Read More
A Pennsylvania appellate court affirmed the denial of an employer’s petition to modify an injured employee’s benefits on the ground that the physician who performed the Impairment Rating Evaluation (IRE) on which the Modification Petition... Read More
A Pennsylvania appellate court held that while a psychologist may provide competent testimony in the claim petition context, if a claimant seeks to rebut competent impairment rating evaluation evidence, he or she must present evidence of similar character—i... Read More
By Stuart D. Colburn, Esq., Shareholder, Downs Stanford This case addresses when a DWC-69 is required after a change in an impairment rating (IR) due to a mathematical error. State Office of Risk Mgmt. v. Rodriguez , 2011 Tex. App. LEXIS 6839 (Tex.... Read More
By Marcus A. Roland, Esq. The Kentucky Workers' Compensation Board rendered 52 decisions for the month of August, 2012. Summaries regarding opinions of note are set forth below. Bush v. Jack Cooper Transport, et al , Claim No. 2007-7362 (August... Read More
By Stuart D. Colburn, Shareholder, Downs Stanford In Appeals Panel decision No. 100111, t he Designated Doctor certified maximum medical improvement using range of motion. The Designated Doctor applied the wrong upper extremity impairment due to external... Read More