What the panel ordered
Petition for Reconsideration denied, affirming the additive approach to combining disabilities resulting in 100% permanent disability.
Defendant filed a Petition for Reconsideration challenging the use of the additive approach in combining disabilities, following an Amended Findings and Award that combined orthopedic, cognitive, and psychiatric disabilities additively for a total of 100% permanent disability.
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 panel found that the additive approach to combining the three components of disability was appropriate due to the synergistic effect between the cognitive and psychiatric disabilities as explained by Dr. McCormack and supported by Dr. Pattison, consistent with the Kite precedent.
From the decision · page 5Applicant filed a Petition for Reconsideration on April 1, 2021, on the issue of how to combine the disabilities. Applicant pointed out that Dr. McCormack had opined that due to the synergistic between the cognitive and the psychiatric disabilities, they should be added together. Pursuant to 8 Cal.Code.Regs 1096l(c), the Findings and Award of March 26, 2021, was rescinded and an Amended Findings and Award was issued on April 16, 2021. In the Amended Findings and Award it was determined that the orthopedic disabilities, the cognitive disability, and the psychiatric disability should each be added together, for a total of 100%.
The facts that decided it
What the panel treated as outcome-determinative, and which side it favoured.
Dr. Pattison found that orthopedic and neuropsychiatric disabilities should be added due to interaction exacerbating orthopedic injury symptoms.
Favours Applicant prevailed
This supported combining orthopedic disability additively with cognitive and psychiatric disabilities.
From the decision · page 5Dr. Pattison addressed the question of how to combine the orthopedic disability with the neuropsychiatric disability and opined that they should be added. He found that because the cognitive and other difficulties make it hard to avoid flaring up the orthopedic injuries, they should be added. (Exhibit 1, page 2.) In defendant's Petition, it does not dispute this finding.
Dr. McCormick found a synergistic effect between cognitive and psychiatric disabilities causing greater combined disability.
Favours Applicant prevailed
This finding supported the use of the additive approach to combine the disabilities, leading to a higher permanent disability rating.
From the decision · page 5Defendant's contention is that in the Opinion, there was a misunderstanding of Dr. McCormack's opinion on whether there are synergistic effects between the psychiatric and cognitive disability. The opinion is found in Dr. McCormack's report dated July 31, 2020. In that report, Dr. McCormack was asked to "please comment whether the disability between the cognitive impairment and the psychological injury results in a synergistic effect." Dr. McCormack stated "cognitive and psychological symptoms interact whereby the cognitive symptoms cause the emotional symptom (worry, fear, helplessness and sadness) to become more intense and the emotional symptoms cause greater difficulty in accessing and using cognitive functional abilities
What the panel did with the medical opinions
The role the physician served, and the weight the opinion carried. Physicians are named here as the decision names them; we do not score them.
Found a synergistic effect between cognitive and psychiatric disabilities causing more disability than each alone, supporting additive combination of disabilities.
Dr. McCormick explained that cognitive symptoms intensify emotional symptoms and vice versa, causing greater combined disability, supporting the additive approach.
From the decision · page 1In his July 31, 2020 report, Steven McCormick, Ph.D., panel qualified medical examiner (PQME) in neuropsychology, clinical psychology, and pain management, stated that:
Found that orthopedic disability should be added to neuropsychiatric disability due to interaction making it harder to avoid flaring orthopedic injuries.
Dr. Pattison opined that orthopedic and neuropsychiatric disabilities should be added because cognitive and other difficulties exacerbate orthopedic injury symptoms.
From the decision · page 5Dr. Pattison addressed the question of how to combine the orthopedic disability with the neuropsychiatric disability and opined that they should be added. He found that because the cognitive and other difficulties make it hard to avoid flaring up the orthopedic injuries, they should be added. (Exhibit 1, page 2.) In defendant's Petition, it does not dispute this finding.
The rules the panel named
Authorities as the decision cited them, with how this panel applied each one.
Athens Administrators v. WCAB (Kite) (2013) 78 Cal.Comp.Cases 213
Additive approach to combining disabilities when synergistic effects exist
The panel applied the Kite precedent to allow additive combination of disabilities due to synergistic effects, resulting in higher overall disability.
From the decision · page 5Defendant was newly aggrieved by the Amended Findings and Award and timely Petitioned for Reconsideration, challenging the use of the additive approach in combining the disabilities. Defendant argues that the orthopedic disability of 51% should be combined with the cognitive disability of 32% to reach 83%, which should then be combined using the CVC with the psychiatric disability of 17% for an overall permanent disability of 86%.
8 Cal.Code.Regs 10961(c)
The regulation was cited as basis for rescinding the original Findings and Award and issuing an Amended Findings and Award combining disabilities additively.
From the decision · page 5Applicant filed a Petition for Reconsideration on April 1, 2021, on the issue of how to combine the disabilities. Applicant pointed out that Dr. McCormack had opined that due to the synergistic between the cognitive and the psychiatric disabilities, they should be added together. Pursuant to 8 Cal.Code.Regs 1096l(c), the Findings and Award of March 26, 2021, was rescinded and an Amended Findings and Award was issued on April 16, 2021. In the Amended Findings and Award it was determined that the orthopedic disabilities, the cognitive disability, and the psychiatric disability should each be added together, for a total of 100%.
What proof carried it
The evidence the panel weighed, by kind.
Dr. McCormick's report describing synergistic effect between cognitive and psychiatric disabilities
From the decision · page 5Defendant's contention is that in the Opinion, there was a misunderstanding of Dr. McCormack's opinion on whether there are synergistic effects between the psychiatric and cognitive disability. The opinion is found in Dr. McCormack's report dated July 31, 2020. In that report, Dr. McCormack was asked to "please comment whether the disability between the cognitive impairment and the psychological injury results in a synergistic effect." Dr. McCormack stated "cognitive and psychological symptoms interact whereby the cognitive symptoms cause the emotional symptom (worry, fear, helplessness and sadness) to become more intense and the emotional symptoms cause greater difficulty in accessing and using cognitive functional abilities
The same issues, filtered across the whole corpus — or paste your own facts and let the search rank by factor match.
About this page
- A published decision of the California Workers' Compensation Appeals Board, taken apart by what it turned on. The Board publishes the decision itself; this page adds the extraction and quotes the passage behind every claim.
- The injured worker is not named here, and the case caption is not printed. Physicians appear as the decision names them, because a medical opinion is an act in a public proceeding.
- Issues, outcomes and weights were extracted by AI and released only where the source passage checked. Read the official decision before relying on anything here. Not legal advice.
- If you are named in this decision and want this page removed, write to privacy@similarcase.com.