Study Finds Doctor/Patient Communications Largely to Blame By Teresa McLoughlin Rice, Esq. Over 100 years ago the esteemed physician, William Ostler, advised medical students to listen to the patient and the patient would give them the diagnosis....

CALIFORNIA COMPENSATION CASES Vol. 79 No. 5 May 2014 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 ...

Lexis.com subscribers can link to the cites below. The recent panel decision of Castrillo v. Catholic Health Care West, 2012 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 454 , presents an interesting slant on a judge’s denial of the applicant’s request for...

A new study by the California Workers’ Compensation Institute estimates that workers’ compensation payors’ utilization review (UR) programs, which rely on evidence-based medicine, combined with the new Independent Medical Review (IMR...

The Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board (WCAB) has rung in the New Year with new rules, new regulations and new responsibilities for all participants in the workers’ compensation community. It is important to be cognizant of all the changes...

Karen C. Yotis, Esq., Feature Resident Columnist of the LexisNexis Workers’ Compensation eNewsletter , provides insights into workplace issues and the nuts and bolts of the workers' comp world. Utilization Review and Independent Medical Review...

Here are the fourth batch of advanced postings for June, and first batch of advanced postings for the July 2014 issue of Cal. Comp. Cases. Lexis.com and Lexis Advance subscribers can link to the case to read the complete headnotes and summaries. ©...

NCCI Symposium Reports First Responder Bills Top List of 2015 Legislation . NCCI Symposium: Dr. Victor Shares Insights on Physician Dispensing . NCCI Symposium: CWCI Shares Insights on Calif. Medical Dispute Resolution . NCCI Symposium: Moody’s...

LexisNexis has picked the top “noteworthy” panel decisions issued by the California Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board during the period July through December 2015. The list features a number of decisions addressing the assignment and...

In a 5–2 decision, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, reversing an earlier decision by the Commonwealth Court, held that a physician performing an Impairment Rating Evaluation (IRE) under § 306(a.2)(1) of the state’s Workers’ Compensation...

CALIFORNIA COMPENSATION CASES Vol. 82 No. 4 Apr 2017 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 ...

Acknowledging that the statutory presumption of correctness afforded the opinion of an independent medical evaluator who had been selected from Tennessee's Medical Impairment Registry ("MIR") could be rebutted by clear and convincing evidence...

CALIFORNIA COMPENSATION CASES Vol. 79 No. 3 March 2014 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...

CALIFORNIA COMPENSATION CASES Vol. 79 No. 10 October 2014 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...

There is no physician-patient relationship between an independent medical examiner and a workers’ compensation claimant, held a Utah appellate court. In the absence of such a relationship, the physician did not owe the claimant the sort of duty owed by...

An Iowa workers’ compensation claimant was entitled to alternate medical care under Iowa Code § 85.27, in spite of his refusal to attend an independent medical examination (IME) proposed by the employer to determine if the additional treatment was related...

An independent medical examiner (IME) offered by the employer to opine on whether there was a sufficient causal connection between an employee’s lung condition and his employment need not be a board-certified pulmonologist, held a Florida appellate...

In spite of language within Idaho's IME statute [Idaho Code § 72-433] that appears to require attendance at the independent medical examination (IME) session only during the injured employee's ”period of disability,” an employer who had ceased...

Mont. Code Ann. § 39-71-605, which permits workers’ compensation insurers to obtain multiple medical examinations of a claimant, does not permit the State Fund (which had insured the risk and was administering the claim in the instant case) to act in...

In a case not designated for publication, a Washington appellate court affirmed an employer’s suspension of workers’ compensation benefits to a claimant who refused to attend an IME schedule by the employer where the claimant requested treatment by a...

Oakland – New data on the Independent Medical Review (IMR) process used to resolve California workers’ comp medical disputes show that IMR volume dipped for the first time ever in 2017, but the outcomes were unchanged as IMR physicians again...

CALIFORNIA COMPENSATION CASES Vol. 83 No. 1 January 2018 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...

A Mississippi appellate court reversed a decision of the state’s Workers' Compensation Commission that had sanctioned a claimant’s attorney for issuing a subpoena duces tecum to the employer’s medical expert in which the attorney sought information...

Go v. Sutter Solano Medical Center is one of series of panel cases addressing the question of whether an employee can obtain TD and PD benefits based on medical treatment that was denied through UR and IMR. As the panel in Go points out, in the context...

Oakland – A new study on the California workers’ compensation independent medical review (IMR) process established by state lawmakers to resolve medical disputes finds that in the first half of this year, more than 91% of all utilization review...