Colorado Physician Gives Claimant Zero Impairment Rating Without In-Person Exam

Opinion Mondays: As to AMA Guides, is There an Alternative to Protz?

In a decision that may have slipped beneath the radar of insurers, administrators, and attorneys whose work is not directly impacted by the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act [33 U.S.C.S §§ 901, et seq.] (“the Act” or “the Longshore Act”), and yet which, as I argue below...

Opinion Mondays: The AMA is on Another Collision Course With Protz

The first session at tomorrow afternoon's (August 18, 2020) virtual conference, sponsored by Workers' Compensation Institute, has really piqued my interest. Entitled, "THE NEW AMA Guides®" (hereinafter "the Guides"), it begs the question: "When will the 7th Edition of the Guides be released?"....

KY Supreme Court: Noted Medical Authority’s AMA Guides Report Inadmissible

In a decision that may have attorneys in other states scurrying back to their respective statutes to check their states’ definitions of “physician,” the Supreme Court of Kentucky held that...

Battle Continues in Kansas Over Use of 6th Edition of AMA Guides

In the continuing battle in Kansas over the use of the Sixth Edition of the American Medical Association (AMA) Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment, a divided Court of...

Opinion Mondays: As to AMA Guides, is There an Alternative to Protz?

BRB Says Required Use of “Most Recent Version of Guides is Not Unconstitutional Delegation of Legislative Power In a decision that may have slipped beneath the radar of insurers, administrators,...

Third Edition of AMA Guides is “Starting Point” for Impairment Ratings in Colorado

The mandate provided in Colo. Rev. Stat. Ann. §§ 101(3)(a)(I) and 101(3.7), that impairment ratings must be “based on” the revised third edition of AMA Guides, does not prevent a...

Kansas Supreme Court Says Use of 6th Edition of AMA Guides is Constitutional

In a much anticipated decision, the Supreme Court of Kansas reversed an August 2018 decision of the state's Court of Appeals that had struck down as unconstitutional the use of...

Opinion Mondays: The AMA is on Another Collision Course With Protz

The first session at tomorrow afternoon’s virtual conference, sponsored by Workers’ Compensation Institute, has really piqued my interest. Entitled, “THE NEW AMA Guides®” (hereinafter “the Guides”), it begs the question:...

PA Commonwealth Court Says Protz Decision Was Not "Fully Retroactive"

In the continuing saga surrounding Pennsylvania’s Protz decision [see Protz v. Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board (Derry Area School District), 639 Pa. 645, 161 A.3d 827 (Pa. 2017)(Protz II)], the state’s...

Virginia High Court Says Permanent Impairment Computed Before, Not After, Hip Replacement Surgery

In a decision that is likely to raise some eyebrows, a divided Supreme Court of Virginia, affirming an earlier decision by a lower appellate court, held that an injured employee’s...

PA Court Says “Protz-Fix” is Constitutionally OK

Section 306(a.3) Mandating Use of AMA Guides, 6th Ed., Stands In enacting 77 Pa. Stat. § 511.3, which mandates a physician’s use of the American Medical Association “Guides to the...