What the panel ordered
Petition for Reconsideration granted; September 27, 2024 Findings and Order rescinded and substituted with a new order admitting the November 30, 2022 report of Mechel Henry, M.D., deposition transcript, trial transcript, and medical presentation to be sent to panel QMEs for review and comment.
Applicant sought reconsideration of the September 27, 2024 Findings and Order which found certain third-party civil claim materials inadmissible to be sent to panel QMEs; the WCJ had recommended denial of the petition; the Appeals Board granted reconsideration and rescinded the prior F&O.
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 Appeals Board found that Dr. Henry's materials were not solely retained to rebut QMEs and were relevant medical evidence admissible under Labor Code section 4062.3(a), distinguishing Batten and following Jacobs, thus admissible to be sent to panel QMEs for review and comment.
From the decision · page 1Applicant seeks reconsideration of the September 27, 2024 Findings and Order (F&O) wherein the workers' compensation administrative law judge (WCJ) found that materials from applicant's third party civil claim, including a November 30, 2022 report of Mechel Henry, M.D., transcript of Dr. Henry's February 21, 2023 deposition, transcript of the October 4, 2023 trial proceedings, and a medical presentation/demonstrative prepared by Dr. Henry, were inadmissible and unable to be submitted to the panel Qualified Medical Evaluators (QMEs) for review and comment. The WCJ found that the reporting, testimony, and exhibits were obtained for the sole purpose of contradicting the panel QMEs in the instant case and were not those of a consulting physician, or a treating physician, agreed medical evaluator, or panel QME, as contemplated under Labor Code1 section 4061(i).