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.
December ushered in a DWC effort to providemuch needed education to workers’ compensation treatingdoctors. Theeducation is aimedat teaching treatingdoctors theappropriate wayto address and report oncausation ofa claimedcompensableinjuryin hopesthat thereport willaid indispute resolution.
Wewelcomebetter reportsfrom treatingdoctors. Butthe training materialsfocus onthe formof the report over the substance of the opinion and the underlying science a doctor should use to formulate his or her opinion. The use of templates andmagic words should not replace a well- reasonedopinion thataddresses causationin thecontextof theclinical recordand evidence-based medicine relevantto thespecifics ofa given case.Weare awareof atleast onecase where ahearing officer under the guise of an LOC mid-hearing sent the trainingmaterials to a designated doctor where thedesignated doctorhad notprovided acausation opinion that met evidentiary standards. The expectation was that the doctor would then issue an “amended” report.
Ofnote isthe factthat thereis norequirementthat atreating doctorreview allthe medicalrecords and list what hehas reviewed. Thatis notthe casefor peerreview doctors,RMEdoctorsand designated doctors who are held to amuch more stringent standard.