What the panel ordered
Petition for Removal granted; WCJ's Findings of Fact and Orders of July 22, 2021 rescinded; new decision issued finding the QME panel was properly obtained and the panel specialty appropriate; parties ordered to utilize the QME panel number 7413157.
Applicant seeks removal of the Findings of Fact and Orders issued by the WCJ on July 22, 2021, which found the QME panel was improperly obtained. The WCJ issued a Report and Recommendation to deny the petition. The Appeals Board granted the petition, rescinded the WCJ's Findings of Fact and Orders, and issued a new decision.
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.
The Appeals Board found that applicant properly obtained the QME panel in accordance with Labor Code sections 4060 and 4062.2, relying on the delay letter as a valid basis for requesting the panel and rejecting the WCJ's contrary finding. The Board also found no evidence that the specialty chosen (chiropractic) was medically inappropriate, and defendant failed to request a replacement panel specialty.
From the decision · page 4Defendant sent applicant a delay letter on April 23, 2021 stating that her claim was on delay pending, among other items, a "med-legal examination." Defendant's delay letter thus expressly stated that a medical-legal evaluation was necessary in order to make a decision regarding her claim. Applicant waited the requisite time from mailing of defendant's delay letter before requesting a QME panel from the Medical Unit on May 19, 2021. She therefore properly obtained a QME panel in accordance with sections 4060 and 4062.2.