Stressing the importance of expert medical testimony in establishing a connection between cancer and the work environment, an appellate court in Texas affirmed a trial court's order granting a former employer summary judgment in a case in which the former employee...
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, an...
The Missouri Labor and Industrial Relations Commission has broad discretion in considering and receiving expert medical evidence, held a state appellate court. That discretion is in fact so broad that it was empowered to accept the opinion of an audiologist (who...
Acknowledging that under Colo. Rev. Stat § 8-42-107(8)(b)(III), a division-sponsored independent medical examination (“DIME”) physician’s opinions concerning MMI and impairment are afforded presumptive weight, a state appellate court held...
Noting that the Board was free to reject the medical opinion offered by the claimant’s expert and credit one rendered by an independent medical examiner, a New York appellate court held that the Board was not, however, free to misread the record in doing...
The seminal causation paper will never be written. This fact provides the author at least some comfort as this paper briefly wades into the agenda-driven minefield of causation in a workers’ compensation claim. Causation, like beauty, is often in the eye of...
In an unpublished opinion, the special appeals panel of the Tennessee Supreme Court has affirmed a finding that an injured employee was entitled to permanent and total disability benefits in spite of the fact that a functional capacity evaluation (FCE) indicated...
The Special Workers’ Compensation Appeals Panel of the Supreme Court of Tennessee affirmed an award of PTD benefits to an X-ray technician who contended her migraine headaches were triggered by exposure to chemicals at a medical clinic where she worked. The...
§ 440.13(5)(e), Fla. Stat., by its plain language, excludes from workers’ compensation proceedings the medical opinions of any doctor (other than independent medical examiners and expert medical advisors) who has not been authorized by the employer/carrier...
Where the former employee’s medical expert candidly allowed that he could not offer a medical opinion to a degree of absolute certainty that removed all speculation, but that he could say, to a reasonable degree of medical certainty, that the former employee...
The Missouri Supreme Court reversed a denial of benefits in a divided 4-3 opinion and found there was sufficient evidence in an expert’s written report to find medical causation, despite the fact the ALJ, the Commission, and the Court of Appeals found the...
The New York Workers’ Compensation Board erred when it found that a corrections officer's work activities were causally connected to his myocardial infarction where the employer’s medical expert opined that the infarction was not caused by work...
Reiterating the rule that the state’s Industrial Commission has broad discretion in weighing medical evidence and determining the credibility of conflicting expert opinions, the Supreme Court of Idaho, in a split decision, affirmed a Commission decision that...
An Ohio appellate court affirmed trial court’s decision granting summary judgment to an employer in a workers’ compensation matter in spite of what the worker contended was a conflict in the medical evidence. The worker was diagnosed with respiratory...
By Jennifer C. Jordan, Esq., General Counsel, MEDVALL, LLC On December 4, 2015, the Florida Bar Board of Governors approved 33-9 the Code and Rules of Evidence Committee’s (CREC) recommendation to use the Frye standard for evaluating expert testimony rather...