January 09, 2025

CWCI: Dermatologicals Are Now the Costliest Drug Group in California Workers’ Comp

Oakland, CA – New data from the California Workers’ Compensation Institute (CWCI) shows recent shifts in the types of drugs prescribed to injured workers in California, and in the distribution of payments for those medications, with anti-inflammatory drugs ranking first in terms of the number of prescriptions, but dermatologicals, which include a number of high-priced, private label drugs, accounting for the...

January 09, 2025

Gideon Baum to Succeed Alex Swedlow as President of CWCI

Oakland, CA – The Board of Directors of the California Workers’ Compensation Institute (CWCI) has named the Institute’s Chief Operating Officer, Gideon L. Baum, to succeed Alex Swedlow when he retires next summer as President of the Oakland-based research and educational organization. “We extend our deepest appreciation to Alex for all his contributions to CWCI, its members, and the California...

January 09, 2025

California: Setting Aside Stipulations on Basis of Inadvertence

Here’s an interesting writ denied case regarding the issue of when stipulations may be set aside and when they may not. We’ll be reporting this case in the upcoming January 2025 issue of California Compensation Cases. Infinity Staffing Services, Inc., Arch Insurance Company, administered by Sedgwick Claims Management, Petitioners v. Workers' Compensation Appeals Board, Enrique Vargas , Respondents ...

December 13, 2024

California: Is There a Revival of “Dueling Docs” in the Workers’ Comp System?

By Hon. Colleen Casey, Former Commissioner, California Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board “Three’s a Crowd” in QME Panel Selection In the case of Hobbs v. N. Valley Elecs. Distrib., 2020 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 239 (Board panel decision), the WCAB explained the obvious. “There are three physicians on a QME panel. ( Lab. Code, § 4062.2 (b).) Based on the statute's language...

December 12, 2024

California: Top Noteworthy Panel Decisions (June through December 2024)

LexisNexis has selected some of the top “noteworthy” panel decisions issued by the California Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board during the period June through December 2024. Several of the cases address the issue of permanent disability and provide an excellent analytical framework for determining whether a scheduled permanent disability rating has been successfully rebutted per Ogilvie v. W.C.A.B...

December 12, 2024

California Compensation Cases December 2024

CALIFORNIA COMPENSATION CASES Vol. 89, No. 12 December 2024 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 © Copyright 2024 LexisNexis. All rights reserved. LexisNexis Online Subscribers: You can link to your account on Lexis+ to read the complete headnotes and...

December 12, 2024

Mild Traumatic Brain Injury as Function of Workplace Violence: Implications for the U.S. Workers’ Compensation System

By Christopher Mahon, LexisNexis Legal Insights Contributing Author A study published in July 2024 by Occupational and Environmental Medicine analyzed U.S. workers’ compensation claims for mild traumatic brain injuries (mTBI) caused by workplace violence (WPV). There were two main objectives of the study: 1. To determine the incidence of mTBI as a function of workplace violence (WPV). 2. To analyze the factors...

December 04, 2024

California: Noteworthy Independent Medical Review (IMR) Decisions (December 2024)

LexisNexis has selected some recently issued noteworthy IMR decisions that illustrate the criteria that must be met to obtain authorization for a variety of different medical treatment modalities. LexisNexis Commentary for each selected IMR is provided below. Many of these IMR decisions were reprinted in California Compensation Cases , which can be accessed on Lexis+. Lexis+ subscribers can access those particular decisions...

December 02, 2024

DIR Announces 2025 California Workers’ Comp User Funding Assessment Rates

Oakland, CA -- The California Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) has issued the 2025 assessments that workers’ compensation insurers are required to collect from policyholders to cover the budget of the state Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC) and five related programs set up by state lawmakers. Insurers should apply the following rates against their policyholders’ estimated annual assessable...

December 02, 2024

Alex Swedlow to Retire as President of CWCI

Oakland – Alex Swedlow has announced his plans to retire as President of the Oakland-based California Workers' Compensation Institute (CWCI) effective August 2025. Mr. Swedlow’s retirement will be the culmination of a 36-year association with the Institute that began in 1988 when he served as a volunteer on CWCI’s Research Committee, then as a consultant, working to enhance data collection and...

November 18, 2024

CWCI Analyzes the Impact of Inflation on the California Workers’ Comp Medical Fee Schedule

Oakland - A new California Workers’ Compensation Institute (CWCI) analysis that examines how medical inflation impacts allowable fees under the California workers’ compensation Official Medical Fee Schedule (OMFS) finds that physician and non-physician practitioner service fees represent more than half of treatment payments in the system and that differences in inflationary factors used between OMFS and Medicare...

November 14, 2024

California: How to File a Recon of an Appeals Board Decision So It Doesn’t Get Lost in Space

By Hon. Colleen Casey, Former Commissioner, California Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board It’s a problem. Petitions for Reconsideration (Recon) are losing their way and delaying their arrival at the Appeals Board. When the WCAB Commissioners fail to review a Recon within the 60-day time limit imposed by Lab. Code § 5909 , the Recon is automatically denied, regardless of the validity of their arguments...

November 14, 2024

California Compensation Cases November 2024

CALIFORNIA COMPENSATION CASES Vol. 89, No. 11 November 2024 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 © Copyright 2024 LexisNexis. All rights reserved. LexisNexis Online Subscribers: You can link to your account on Lexis+ to read the complete headnotes and...

November 08, 2024

Workers’ Compensation Emerging Issues Analysis: The Changing Workforce and Workplace

By Thomas A. Robinson, Co-Editor-in-Chief, Workers’ Compensation Emerging Issues Analysis ( LexisNexis ) (This article is excerpted from the upcoming 2024 Edition of Workers’ Compensation Emerging Issues Analysis (LexisNexis). Section numbers below refer to the text in that book. To preorder, call Customer Service at 1-800-543-6862, or preorder online here .) As we approach the mid-point of the third decade...

November 07, 2024

California: Lean into Workers’ Compensation Lien Trials with This Winning Strategy

By Hon. Colleen Casey, Former Commissioner, California Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board The battle of the bill review experts is on! This issue was the focus of the recent Noteworthy Panel Decision (NPD) of Russell v. Providence Health and Services , 2024 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 335 . On one side, we had the expert for lien claimant, Dental Trauma Center, requesting $15,548.84 in fees for dental services...

October 30, 2024

California: Vigil and the Six Pathways to 100% Permanent Total Disability After Nunes I and II

By Hon. Robert G. Rassp, author of The Lawyer’s Guide to the AMA Guides and California Workers’ Compensation (LexisNexis) Disclaimer: The material and any opinions contained in this article are solely those of the authors and are not the opinions of the Department of Industrial Relations, Division of Workers’ Compensation, or the WCAB, or any other entity or individual. The materials are intended to...

October 23, 2024

Opioid Use Declines Faster in California Workers’ Comp than in the State’s General Population

Oakland, CA – The decline in opioid use in California workers’ compensation has outpaced the decline among the state’s overall population according to a new California Workers’ Compensation Institute (CWCI) analysis of 2017-2023 opioid prescription data from the California Department of Justice’s Controlled Substance Utilization Review and Evaluation System (CURES) database. The analysis...

October 22, 2024

Herlick, California Workers’ Compensation Handbook: 2024 Developments

By Julius Young, Richard Jacobsmeyer, Barry Bloom, Editors-in-Chief for Herlick, California Workers’ Compensation Handbook [Note: This article is excerpted from the upcoming 2025 edition of Herlick, California Workers’ Compensation Handbook. Sections below refer to the Handbook.] The after-effects of the COVID epidemic are still evident in the California system. Since 2020, many workers’ compensation...

October 17, 2024

California: Evidentiary Quirks of Death Benefit Cases

By Hon. Colleen Casey, Former Commissioner, California Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board Practitioners beware! Death benefit trials often raise intricate and unique evidentiary conundrums. Obtaining the relevant admissible evidence is key. But it’s even more important to anticipate “airtight evidence” of your opponent and consider options for rebuttal. The recent Noteworthy Panel Decision ...

October 15, 2024

California Workers’ Comp Benefits to Increase in 2025

Oakland, CA – California’s State Average Weekly Wage (SAWW) rose nearly 3.8 percent in the year ending March 31, 2024, which will result in an increase in California workers’ compensation temporary total disability (TTD) and permanent total disability (PTD) rates for 2025 work injury claims and other workers’ compensation benefits that are tied to SAWW increases. The latest wage data from the...

October 14, 2024

California Compensation Cases October 2024

CALIFORNIA COMPENSATION CASES Vol. 89, No. 10 October 2024 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 © Copyright 2024 LexisNexis. All rights reserved. Lexis+ Online Subscribers: You can link to your account on Lexis+ to read the complete headnotes and court...

October 10, 2024

Frequently Asked Questions on Complex Employment Issues for California Workers’ Compensation

By Hon. Robert G. Rassp, Presiding Judge, WCAB Los Angeles, California Division of Workers’ Compensation Disclaimer: The material and any opinions contained in this article are solely those of the authors and are not the opinions of the Department of Industrial Relations, Division of Workers’ Compensation, or the WCAB, or any other entity or individual. The materials are intended to be a reference tool only...

October 08, 2024

California: Are Migraine Drugs Becoming a New Workers’ Comp Cost Driver?

Oakland, CA – Migraine Drugs represented less than 1% of all prescriptions dispensed to California injured workers in 2023 but they consumed 4.7% of workers’ compensation drug payments, a nearly 8-fold increase since 2018, which a California Workers’ Compensation Institute (CWCI) study links to the emergence of several high-cost brand drugs that are not listed in the Medical Treatment Utilization Schedule...

October 08, 2024

New title! Complex Employment Issues for California Workers' Compensation

COMPLEX EMPLOYMENT ISSUES FOR CALIFORNIA WORKERS' COMPENSATION A new softbound supplement to Rassp & Herlick, California Workers’ Compensation Law 284 pages PIN #0006801214707 For current pricing and to order, call 800-543-6862. We are pleased to announce that LexisNexis/Matthew Bender & Company has released a brand-new handbook as part of the Rassp & Herlick treatise called Complex Employment...

September 25, 2024

California: Shipley’s Ship Has Sailed, But on 7/2/2024, LC 5909 Came to the Rescue

By Hon. Colleen Casey, Former Commissioner, California Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board Just when you thought the right of “due process” was on the brink of destruction, the legislature amended Labor Code section 5909 to ensure it survives, at least in the realm of a true and complete judicial review for ALL “Petitions for Reconsideration and Removal, (hereinafter “Petitions for Recon...