CompFox AI Summary
The Workers' Compensation Appeals Board granted reconsideration to further study the legal and factual issues raised by the Petition for Reconsideration. Applicant sought reconsideration of the January 27, 2022 Findings and Award, challenging the findings regarding a specific industrial injury to his right shoulder and a claimed cumulative injury. The Board concluded that the medical-legal opinions of the Qualified Medical Evaluator (QME), Dr. Bruce Huffer, were legally insufficient and analytically incomplete because he applied an incorrect legal standard for causation and apportionment, repeatedly requiring 'certainty' instead of 'reasonable medical probability'. Consequently, the Board rescinded the F&A and returned the matter to the trial level for further development of the medical-legal record, suggesting the selection of an Agreed Medical Evaluator.
Full Decision Text1 Pages
The Workers' Compensation Appeals Board granted reconsideration to further study the legal and factual issues raised by the Petition for Reconsideration. Applicant sought reconsideration of the January 27, 2022 Findings and Award, challenging the findings regarding a specific industrial injury to his right shoulder and a claimed cumulative injury. The Board concluded that the medical-legal opinions of the Qualified Medical Evaluator (QME), Dr. Bruce Huffer, were legally insufficient and analytically incomplete because he applied an incorrect legal standard for causation and apportionment, repeatedly requiring 'certainty' instead of 'reasonable medical probability'. Consequently, the Board rescinded the F&A and returned the matter to the trial level for further development of the medical-legal record, suggesting the selection of an Agreed Medical Evaluator.
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