Issue Commentary: NC Decision Shows Difficult Balancing Required for Lump-Sum Requests

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

Ohio Worker Awarded Permanent Loss of Use Award Despite Not Reaching MMI

NY Claimant Entitled to Marked Permanent Disability Award Instead of SLU Award

Construing the N.Y. Workers’ Compensation Guidelines for Determining Impairment, a state appellate court affirmed a decision of the Workers’ Compensation Board that held an injured employee’s foot injury was not...

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...

Half of Virginia Claimant’s PPD Apportioned to Pre-Existing Condition

In a decision not designated for publication, a Virginia appellate court affirmed a finding of the state’s Workers’ Compensation Commission that an injured employee’s work-related accident had caused only a...

“Odd-Lot”-Like Theory Works in Reverse to Limit Wage Loss Award for NY Claimant

Observing that in determining a claimant’s loss of wage-earning capacity, the New York Workers’ Compensation Board may consider claimant’s functional capabilities, as well as vocational issues (claimant’s age, education, training,...

NY Claimant Should Not Have Been Permanently Barred From Indemnity Benefits

A New York appellate court held that while the state’s Workers’ Compensation Board was within its discretion when it found an injured worker had violated N.Y. Workers’ Comp. Law §...

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: States Shouldn’t Treat PTD Awards as Estate Planning Tools

Iowa Commutation Order Allows for Substantial Inheritable Estate Illustrating just how far some states have moved away from the original workers’ compensation principle that indemnity benefits are not an inheritable...