Showing just how serious New York courts take the issue of ex parte communications between counsel and medical experts, a New York appellate court recently affirmed an order by the...
Ex Parte Communications Sink NY Death Benefits Claim Ex Parte Communications Sink NY Death Benefits ClaimIllustrating the important point that a hearing officer or judge must stick to those matters that are specifically at issue, and not wander off to determine other questions that might...
NY Court Says Law Judge Must Limit Decision to Actual Issue at Hand NY Court Says Law Judge Must Limit Decision to Actual Issue at HandA 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...
MS Claimant Establishes Claim in Spite of Cautious Medical Testimony MS Claimant Establishes Claim in Spite of Cautious Medical TestimonyConstruing Ark. Code Ann. § 11-9-102(4)(D) (Supp. 2019), which indicates that a compensable injury must be established by medical evidence supported by objective findings [emphasis mine], an Arkansas appellate court...
Arkansas Muscle Strain Claim May Be Compensable Where Physician Did Not Observe Spasms Arkansas Muscle Strain Claim May Be Compensable Where Physician Did Not Observe SpasmsAn Arkansas appellate court affirmed the denial of workers’ compensation benefits to an employee who suffered mysterious GI bleeding while completing workers’ compensation claims forms at his employer’s facility, and...
Arkansas Court Stresses Difference Between “Idiopathic” and “Unexplained” Arkansas Court Stresses Difference Between “Idiopathic” and “Unexplained”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...
Kansas Supreme Court Says Use of 6th Edition of AMA Guides is Constitutional Kansas Supreme Court Says Use of 6th Edition of AMA Guides is ConstitutionalA Texas appellate court recently affirmed a state trial court’s decision granting summary judgment in favor of a former employer (and a companion company) who had been sued by a...
Texas Court Affirms Summary Judgment Favoring Former Employer in Toxic Tort Suit Texas Court Affirms Summary Judgment Favoring Former Employer in Toxic Tort SuitWhile an employer's failure to file a timely notice of controversy precludes the employer from submitting evidence that the claimant did not sustain accidental injuries or that the alleged injuries...
NY Claimant Must Show Causal Connection Between Employment and Medical Condition Even When Employer Fails to Controvert Claim NY Claimant Must Show Causal Connection Between Employment and Medical Condition Even When Employer Fails to Controvert ClaimAcknowledging the broad latitude afforded the state’s Workers’ Compensation Board of Review when it comes to weighing the medical evidence before it, the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia,...
West Virginia Court Reverses Medical Findings of Board of Review West Virginia Court Reverses Medical Findings of Board of ReviewYesterday, a New York appellate court held that the Board's decision to preclude medical reports of two of claimant's treating physicians was appropriate in spite of the fact that the...
NY Employer/Carrier May Preclude Medical Reports Without Enforcing Subpoenas NY Employer/Carrier May Preclude Medical Reports Without Enforcing SubpoenasIllustrating the broad discretion that the state’s Workers’ Compensation Board of Review has when it comes to making factual determinations—including those regarding medical causation—the Supreme Court of Appeals of West...
No Carpal Tunnel Recovery for West Virginia Embalmer No Carpal Tunnel Recovery for West Virginia EmbalmerA New York appellate court, weighing conflicting medical evidence as to the causal connection, if any, between a business woman’s heart attack was causally connected to her employment, recently affirmed...
NY Hair Salon Owner Fails to Show Causal Connection Between Rude Customers and Her Heart Attack NY Hair Salon Owner Fails to Show Causal Connection Between Rude Customers and Her Heart Attack