What the panel ordered
Petition for Reconsideration is denied; the WCJ's Findings and Order are upheld to allow further discovery and evaluation regarding new and further disability claims, including psychological injury and MRI of right shoulder.
Defendant seeks reconsideration of the Findings and Order issued by the WCJ on May 15, 2024, challenging interlocutory findings and orders related to a Petition to Reopen for New and Further Disability.
What was disputed, and how it came out
Each issue the panel decided, with the reasoning it gave. An outcome is what this panel did on this record — not a rule, and not a prediction.
Further discovery and medical evidence, including MRI and psychological evaluation, are necessary to determine if new and further disability exists; defendant's challenge is premature.
From the decision · page 6The Findings and Orders in the decision issued on May 15, 2024, relate to (1) a finding allowing the Applicant to include psychological injury in the claim for new and further disability associated with the petition to reopen, and obtain medical-legal evidence to evaluate causation and need for treatment, as this claim is disputed; (2) a finding allowing the Applicant to obtain an MRI of the right shoulder and subsequently be re-evaluated with the current QME, Dr. Stone, to complete his findings as to the existence, if any, of new and further disability or need for treatment to the right shoulder and both knees. No finding regarding new and further disability has yet been determined, as additional evidence was found to be necessary in order to determine whether there is a basis to grant the Petition to Reopen, or whether it should be denied as without basis.