What the panel ordered
Petition for Reconsideration dismissed; Petition for Removal granted; Findings and Award of March 2, 2026 rescinded and substituted with Findings and Order invalidating QME panel 7823574 and ordering issuance of replacement chiropractic QME panel
Petition for Reconsideration of Findings and Award issued by WCJ on March 2, 2026, dismissed as to reconsideration and granted as to removal; Findings and Award rescinded and substituted with Findings and Order
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.
Defendant's QME panel request was premature due to incorrect date usage, making the panel invalid and entitling applicant to a replacement chiropractic panel.
From the decision · page 6Here, defendant's notice of delay was served on May 23, 2025 within California on applicant by regular mail. (Exhibit A.) The parties were therefore required to wait until fifteen (15) days after May 23, 2025, or until the after 5:00 p.m. on June 9, 2025 before requesting a panel. In their panel request, however, defendant indicated that the "date of request for comprehensive exam" was May 22, 2025. (Exhibit B, p. 3.) This is contrary to the facts of the case and contrary to the parties' stipulation to a May 23, 2025 "start date per Labor Code 4062.2." (Minutes of Hearing and Summary of Evidence (MOH & SOE), February 2, 2026, p. 2.) We therefore conclude that considering defendant's usage of an incorrect date, defendant's QME panel request was invalid. Accordingly, the issuance of panel 7823574 is similarly invalid.