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Member, Beacon International Group, Ltd.
SAN JOSE, Calif.—A California appeals court announced Tuesday that it will review a controversial case involving physician ratings for workers compensation permanent disability claims awards.
California’s 6th District Court of Appeal in San Jose said it will review a California Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board decision reached Sept. 3, 2009, in the case of Milpitas Unified School District vs. WCAB and Guzman, also known as the Guzman case.
But the appeals court also denied the school district’s request to stay the WCAB’s decision.
The Guzman case is among three landmark decisions in which the appeals board ruled that the American Medical Assn. Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment, used for disability determinations, can be rebutted with certain evidence.
Employers and insurers say the WCAB’s decisions essentially render the guides useless and introduce subjectivity into California’s Permanent Disability Rating Schedule that use of the guides was meant to eliminate.
The court has not set a date for hearing the case, but respondents may file their opposition by March 25, the court said.