Workers' Compensation

Recent Posts

California: Home Health Care Service – Now & Then
Posted on 4 Mar 2013 by Calif. WCAB Noteworthy Panel Decisions Reporter

Now that SB 863 is in effect, massive changes have taken place with regard to the authorization of home health care services. Therefore, it is important to understand the history behind the concept of home health care services as medical treatment (MT... Read More

California: Obtaining Substantial Evidence From Vocational Rehabilitation Experts in Ogilvie Cases
Posted on 9 Mar 2012 by Connie Bastian

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

California Workers' Comp Case Roundup (6/9/2012)
Posted on 9 Jun 2012 by California Compensation Cases Staff

CALIFORNIA COMPENSATION CASES Vol. 77 No. 5 May 2012 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 ... Read More

California: Tips for Avoiding Sanctions
Posted on 17 Mar 2016 by Calif. WCAB Noteworthy Panel Decisions Reporter

Practitioners have noticed a slew of WCAB Noteworthy Panel Decisions recently relating to the imposition of sanctions for “bad faith tactics” under Labor Code § 5813 [ LC 5813 ]. Everyone wants to avoid sanctions, so litigators should... Read More

California: The Range of Evidence Is Alive and Well
Posted on 16 Jun 2014 by Calif. WCAB Noteworthy Panel Decisions Reporter

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

New York: Airport Worker’s Work In Freezing Weather Causally Connected to Heart Attack
Posted on 29 Apr 2016 by Larson's Spotlight

Substantial evidence supported a finding by the Board that an employee’s fatal heart attack was causally related to his employment where the decedent and others were called upon to deal with a frozen valve, the decedent was required to travel outside... Read More

California: Presenting Evidence of the Vocational Expert Post SB 863
Posted on 25 Mar 2014 by Calif. WCAB Noteworthy Panel Decisions Reporter

Rebuttal of an injured worker’s “strict” permanent disability rating has consistently been one of the hottest topics in recent case law. See Milpitas v. WCAB (Guzman) (2010) 75 Cal. Comp. Cases 837 (lexis.com), 75 Cal. Comp. Cases 837... Read More

Evaluators of Psychiatric Injury Lacked Relevant Medical Records, Personnel File, Materials From Workplace Investigation: Cal. Comp. Cases January Advanced Postings (12/23/2014)
Posted on 23 Dec 2014 by California Compensation Cases Staff

Here’s the first batch of advanced postings for the January 2015 issue of Cal. Comp. Cases. Lexis.com and Lexis Advance subscribers can link to the cases to read the complete headnotes and summaries. © Copyright 2014 LexisNexis. All rights... Read More

California Workers' Comp Case Roundup (7/3/2015)
Posted on 4 Jul 2015 by California Compensation Cases Staff

CALIFORNIA COMPENSATION CASES Vol. 80 No. 6 June 2015 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... Read More

Opinion of Treating Physician Found More Persuasive Than QME’s: Cal. Comp. Cases April Advanced Postings (4/8/2015)
Posted on 8 Apr 2015 by California Compensation Cases Staff

Here’s the third batch of advanced postings for April 2015 issue of Cal. Comp. Cases. Lexis.com and Lexis Advance subscribers can link to the cases to read the complete headnotes and summaries. © Copyright 2015 LexisNexis. All rights... Read More

California: WCAB Affirms Medical Treatment in the Form of Sleep Number i8 Bed
Posted on 14 Mar 2015 by Calif. WCAB Noteworthy Panel Decisions Reporter

In Carnes v. Auto Zone, Inc., 2015 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS --, a split panel WCAB affirmed the WCJ’s order that the defendant authorize medical treatment in the form of a Sleep Number i8 bed based on the reporting of the applicant’s treating... Read More

California: Replacing the Panel QME: Survey of Recent Noteworthy Panel Decisions
Posted on 21 Jan 2014 by Calif. WCAB Noteworthy Panel Decisions Reporter

© Copyright 2014 LexisNexis. All rights reserved. I. Evolution of the Current Panel QME Process The Panel QME process has evolved in interesting ways over the years. For dates of injury prior to 2005, the panel QME process did not exist. Instead... Read More

Cal. Comp. Cases September Advanced Postings (9/1/2011)
Posted on 1 Sep 2011 by California Compensation Cases Staff

Here's the first batch of advanced postings for the upcoming September issue of California Compensation Cases. Lexis.com subscribers can link to the "writ denied" cases to read the complete headnotes and summaries. Interwoven, Inc., American... Read More

California: Vocational Experts and Apportionment
Posted on 18 Mar 2015 by Calif. WCAB Noteworthy Panel Decisions Reporter

The Exception to Defendant’s Burden of Proof on Apportionment One of the most frequent issues pending before the WCAB lately has been how to handle apportionment to significant non-industrial causes when the applicant has successfully rebutted... Read More