What the panel ordered
Petition for reconsideration denied; Findings and Award of March 6, 1998 affirmed.
Petition for reconsideration of Findings and Award issued March 6, 1998, granted to review legal and factual issues regarding medical treatment authorization.
What was disputed, and how it came out
Each issue the panel decided, with the reasoning it gave. An outcome is what this panel did on this record — not a rule, and not a prediction.
The WCAB affirmed the WCR's exclusion of medical reports obtained through Utilization Review because such reports do not meet the statutory requirement of a physical examination under Labor Code section 5703, and thus are not admissible evidence to determine the appropriateness of medical treatment.
From the decision · page 415 At the hearing on January 26, 1998, applicant objected to the admission into
The facts that decided it
What the panel treated as outcome-determinative, and which side it favoured.
Medical reports obtained pursuant to Utilization Review standards do not meet the statutory requirement of a physical examination under Labor Code section 5703 and are not admissible evidence.