Wyoming High Court Says MD’s Certification is Not Required in Odd Lot Cases

Issue Commentary: Can Employer Be Liable in Tort for Failure to Gather Evidence to Assist Injured Worker in Third-Party Action?

Virginia Commission is not Bound by Rules of Pleading or Evidence

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...

MS Claimant Establishes Claim in Spite of Cautious Medical Testimony

A Mississippi appellate court affirmed an ALJ’s decision, affirmed by the state’s Workers’ Compensation Commission, that an employee’s stress fracture in her right foot was work-related, entitling the employee to...

Opinion Mondays: COVID-19 Presumptions Don't Stand Alone in the Workers' Comp World

Recently, I had an occasion to spar with a young reporter who was gathering background information on a COVID-19 piece that she’s preparing. She’s only been in the legal news...

“Substantial” Evidence, Not Just “Some” Evidence Required to Rebut NY Presumption Regarding Unwitnessed Injuries

As is the rule in many jurisdictions [see Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, § 7.04], New York provides a presumption of compensability for accidents occurring during the course of employment which...

Inadmissible Drug Test May Not Be Used to Show Employee Fraud in Louisiana

In Louisiana, a positive drug test following a work-related injury may not be offered as evidence that the injured worker’s injuries were the result of intoxication at the time of...

Nebraska Physician Assistant May Not Sign Medical Report

While the term, “physician,” as defined by Neb. Workers’ Comp. R. 49(O) (2018), generally includes those practicing osteopathic medicine, chiropractic, podiatry, or dentistry, it does not include a physician assistant,...

After Florida’s Adoption of Daubert Rule, Physician’s Opinion as to Cause of Employee’s Placental Abruption Was Inadmissible

Noting that with its 2013 amendment to § 90.702, Fla. Stat., the Florida legislature had clearly jettisoned both “the Frye test” and the “pure opinion” rule [Flannagan v. State, 625...

Facebook Party Pics Help Defeat Worker’s Claim for Benefits

Until a number of my high school classmates began to plan our 40th reunion gala several years ago, I had successfully avoided Facebook® and the other social media (I’m still...