Six more medical providers have been suspended from operating in the state workers’ comp system by the California Division of Workers’ Compensation. These new suspensions bring the total suspended medical providers to thirty-eight. These suspensions stem from last year’s Assembly Bill 1244, which took major steps to reduce fraud in the workers’ comp system. The […]

Riverside Man Injured By Forklift

This month, Steven Meier, a security guard in Riverside, California, received a $16.9 million jury award for sustaining injuries from a forklift. While Meier was on the job, an employee operating a forklift reversed into Meier, dragging him fifteen feet and pinning his leg under equipment. Meier’s leg had to be amputated below the knee. […]

  Two motorcyclists were killed on a head- on collision on the Ortega Highway west of Lake Elsinore. Authorities shut down the highway in both directions for about three hours during the investigation. According to the California Highway Patrol, one motorcyclist was heading east on the highway near Decker Canyon Road approached a curve at […]

Just a couple of weeks ago, a large-scale workers’ comp fraud ring was discovered in Southern California. More than two dozen doctors, pharmacists and business owners in California are now facing insurance fraud charges in a $40 million fraudulent workers’ compensation medical billing and kickback operation uncovered by federal, state, and local regulators. Defendants Tanya […]

Focusing on the “Forgotten” Aspects of Workers’ Comp Most of the focus of various workers’ compensation studies are on the back-end of workers’ comp. Meaning the studies on medical costs, the litigation process, indemnity cost trends, loss adjustment and medical cost containment expense, prescribing practices, provider abuse and quite a few other topics. These are […]

Attack on the Constitutionality

Attack on the Constitutionality of Independent Medical Review A second California Court of Appeal district has now ruled that an independent medical review (IMR) is constitutional. That’s the decision made in the March 29, 2017 California Court of Appeal Third Appellate District case of Daniel Ramirez v. WCAB. In a certified opinion, Justice Cole Blease, […]

Bizarre Workers’ Comp Case

Back in 2013, a case was presented where a worker’s injuries were caused by his intoxication and not by the concrete slab he fell on. The Longshore Act provides that no compensation shall be payable if the injury “was occasioned solely by the intoxication of the employee” [33 U.S.C.S. § 903(c)]. In 2013, the Ninth […]

2016 Workers’ Comp in Review

With 2016 in the rear-view mirror, it’s time to take a look at the Top 10 developments in California workers’ comp during 2016. The Division of Workers’ Compensation regulatory activity continued, although at a slower pace than prior years. 2016 was a relatively slow year for workers’ comp in the California appellate courts. Many California […]

Workers’ Comp Wear and Tear

A large-scale study on the total of California cumulative trauma claims has been released by the California Workers’ Compensation Institute (CWCI). These CT claims are essentially occupational wear and tear claims and include occupational disease claims. As pointed out by the report, California does not have limitations on these claims that many other states impose. […]

Injured in an Accident

Being injured in any sort of accident on the job or someone’s property can change your life forever. In a split second you may suffer serious and life altering injuries. These injuries may entitle you to medical benefits, damages and financial compensation according to personal injury law. Make sure you follow the following steps to help […]