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

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...

Battle of the Forms: NY Board Abuses Discretion in Failing to Reopen Claim

Where there was a clear discrepancy between the schedule loss of use (SLU) percentage indicated on the face of a surgeon’s C-4.3 form (Doctor’s Report of Maximum Medical Improvement/Permanent Impairment)...

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,...

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:...

Recent Kansas AMA Guides Decision: Would the Court Prefer a Fault-Based System?

Jettisoning the Bath Water—Does the Baby Remain? As someone who has, for the past 32 years, earned the bulk of his living reading—I’ll admit, often only skimming—some 2,500 appellate decisions...

Kansas Court Strikes Down Use of AMA Guides 6th Ed.

Decision Reinstates 4th Edition for Workers’ Comp Disputes In a decision that quotes, among other authority, Linda Loman, wife of Willy Loman, of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, the...

Maine High Court Blocks Employer’s Attempt to Challenge Continued Existence of Disability

Highlighting the fine line that exists, on the one hand, between a party’s attempt to relitigate an issue already decided and, on the other hand, a party’s contention that a...