What the panel ordered
Petition for Reconsideration denied.
Defendant seeks reconsideration of a February 22, 2024 Findings and Order by WCJ regarding additional QME panels.
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.
QME/AME processDefendant prevailedhead · eyes · stress
The orthopedic QME, Dr. Joanne Halbrecht, recommended additional QME panels in specialties outside her expertise due to applicant's claims of injury to head, eyes, and stress, establishing good cause for additional panels.
From the decision · page 1Defendant seeks reconsideration of a February 22, 2024 Findings and Order (F&O) issued by a workers' compensation administrative law judge (WCJ) wherein the WCJ found good cause for the issuance of additional Qualified Medical Evaluation (QME) panels in the specialties of ophthalmology, neurology, and psychiatry based upon the opinion of the orthopedic QME, Dr. Joanne Halbrecht, who recommended QMEs in those specialties after finding applicant's claims of injury to her "head, eyes, and stress" to be outside her area of expertise. (F&O, p. 3.)