Throughout the years, since the enactment of SB 899, all of the guidebooks have directed physicians and attorneys to focus on permanent objective medical conditions in order to determine whether that condition is ratable under the AMA Guides . Some people... Read More
One of the most challenging issues for a Workers’ Compensation Judge (WCJ) is to decide how to weigh medical evidence for the most accurate determination. Which physician’s report is the more credible? Which diagnostic tool is the more accurate... Read More
The apportionment statutes were massively revised by the 2004 workers’ compensation reform package. However, apportionment was one of the only areas of the workers’ compensation law that did not get hit by the most recent reform legislation... Read More
At a seminar during the recent DWC 19th Annual Educational Conference in Oakland, we heard opinions about interpreting Ogilvie , rating permanent disability, and rebutting the 2005 Permanent Disability Rating Schedule. Although Ogilvie did not give us... Read More
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
By Stuart D. Colburn, Shareholder, Downs Stanford Appeals Panel Decision 100538 – Extent The sole issue at the Contested Case Hearing (CCH) is whether the compensable injury extended to osteoarthritis at the right hip. The extent of... Read More