October 1,
2007 Source:
WorkInjury.com
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C.A.6:
PD "Check-Box" Report Sufficient for Using Old Rating Schedule?
In this case, the appeal involved whether the "old" rating schedule should have been used based on one of the listed exceptions found in LC 4660(d), specifically that a medical report existed prior to 2005 indicating the existence of permanent disability.
The issue was whether a form which just used "check boxes" was really enough to constitute "substantial evidence" of the existence of PD within the intended meaning of the Labor Code section.
In this case, the doctor, on a form dated and signed pre-2005, had simply "checked" the "yes" check boxes for all of the following questions:
Will there be permanent disability?
Are Work Restrictions Anticipated?
Are Subjective Permanent Disability Factors Anticipated?
Are Objective Permanent Disability Factors Anticipated?
Is Loss of Pre-injury Work Capacity Anticipated?
The Court concluded that such a skimpy form letter did NOT constitute "substantial
evidence" since "a medical opinion must be predicated on reasonable medical probability [citations]."
Citing CCR Rule 10606 on what constitutes a written medical report, the Court said that the doctor's
"'check the box' letter does not even reference what type of injury Mr.
Mariscal suffered let alone describe Mr. Mariscal's medical history, findings on
examination, a diagnosis, opinion as to the nature, extent, and duration of disability and
work limitations, cause of the disability, treatment indicated, or the reasons for the
opinion."
Accordingly, the Court ruled the report insufficient to constitute the listed exception under the Labor Code section and remanded the case for a decision based on the 2005 rating schedule.
The unpublished case is HSR Inc. v. WCAB (Mariscal).
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