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April 15, 2024
Colorado Worker Shows Head Injury Happened as a Consequence of a Knock on the Head at Work

April 4, 2024
Callfornia Division of Workers' Compensation Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee Meeting Scheduled for April 17, 2024

April 3, 2024
California Division of Workers' Compensation Posts Adjustments to Official Medical Fee Schedule (DMEPOS)

April 2, 2024
California Division of Workers' Compensation Posts Adjustments to Official Medical Fee Schedule for Pathology and Clinical Laboratory

San Francisco’s petition for review was denied yesterday by the California Supreme Court over the First District Court of Appeals’ decision on the Ogilvie case.   That decision supported the WCAB decision that diminished future earnings capacity adjustments in permanent disability awards can be rebutted. 

The Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board decided for the first time in the year 2009 that injured workers can challenge the schedule used in adjusting workers’ comp awards in order that they reflect diminished capacity for future employment. Previously, injured workers could not challenge the payment schedule. 

Don Barthel, a California workers’ compensation defense attorney, and one of the partners in the firm Bradford & Barthel, assisted on the arguments.  He told the Insurance Journal, “But that doesn’t mean that’s the end of things.  I have every expectation that there will be splits on this issue in the various courts of appeal.  This is not the end of the Ogilvie issue.  The case is done, but the issue could be taken up by the Supreme Court.”

Don went on to tell the Insurance Journal even further, “There are probably thousands of Ogilvie-like cases bubbling through WCAB district offices at this very moment.  Once one district goes against another, then you have a split.  You probably double, triple, or quadruple the chances of it being granted a review by the Supreme Court.”

lonce@adjustercom.com