NWCDN Members regularly post articles and summary judgements in workers’ compensations law in your state.
Select a state from the dropdown menu below to scroll through the state specific archives for updates and opinions on various workers’ compensation laws in your state.
Contact information for NWCDN members is also located on the state specific links in the event you have additional questions or your company is seeking a workers’ compensation lawyer in your state.
Legislative Update by Attorney Alison Stewart
In a recent decision by Iowa Workers’ Compensation Deputy Erin Pals, Reiter v. Incorporated City of Remsen,the agency determined it is appropriate to apply the upper extremity functional rating to shoulder injuries now that shoulders have been identified as a scheduled member injury under the post July 1, 2017 workers’ compensation legislation. Deputy Pals reasoned that the table consulted by the rating physician could be found in Chapter 16 of the5th Edition AMA Guidelines, which is entitled “The Upper Extremities,” and historically the agency has not utilized whole person impairment ratings for a single scheduled member injury. The full decision can be found here:http://decisions.iowaworkforce.org/2018/October/Reiter,%20Craig-5059413d.pdf.
In light of this decision, it is prudent to take the upper extremity rating and multiply it by the 400 week value of the shoulder in order to determine permanency entitlement for employees who sustain work-related shoulder injuries post July 1, 2017.