Worker’s Compensation: Is the Medical Assessment Tribunal’s Decision always final? Yes and No • Medical decisions are final • Non-Medical decisions can be challenged • Whether injury is a result of work or not can be challenged along with whether a claim for compensation can be made A long-standing view has been that the decisions of the independent panel of medical specialists that form the Medical Assessment Tribunal’s (MAT) cannot be challenged. However, in a recent decision by Deputy President O’Connor in the Queensland Industrial Relations Committee (QIRC) things are set to change the way Workers’ Compensation claims handled along with the implication of decisions by MAT on compensation claims. MAT has specialist expertise in assessing …show more content…
“the driver had injured his shoulder”, not “the driver had injured his shoulder because the steering wheel was defective”. This view was supported and upheld by Deputy President O’Connor. The Deputy President said that MAT’s power is to determine the “issues of a medical nature necessary to make an assessment of the claim.” The Deputy President said that MAT were expert witnesses who are asked “to provide an independent opinion based on the facts…”. Deputy President O’Connor also stated that the medical diagnosis could not be challenged but the factual and legal issues regarding the meaning of personal injury could. In other words, anything outside of the medical decision, (i.e. the injury was caused by work) can be challenged. Also, if the injury is eligible for compensation can also be challenged. Only the medical decisions of the MAT are ‘final’ such as the employee has an injury. This means that an employee’s claim for compensation could be overturned by the Employer. JJ Richards & Sons Pty Ltd v Workers’ Compensation Regulator [2016] QIRC 147 If you have an employment law or industrial relations matter, Hall Payne’s expert and award winning advice can help. Contact us via our contact page, or on 1800 659 114 for a consultation
Thank you for the signed retainer with our firm to handle your Workers’ Compensation Medical Provider Applications. The Workers’ Compensation Court allows us to recover for authorized and emergency treatment on behalf of your patients through the Workers’ Compensation Court. In our experience, most of these cases have been resolved amicably with the insurance carrier. However, there are various issues that we encounter as a part of our representation of Medical Providers in Workers’ Compensation Court.
“A factor, by itself, may not be sufficient to cause injury but if, with other factors, it materially contributes to causing injury, it is clearly a cause of injury.”. This quote, stated by Lord Salmon in McGhee v National Coal Board is an example of the difficulty that can arise when determining if a defendant had materially contributed to the plaintiff 's injury when the medical evidence is inconclusive. It is argued that the material contribution test has changed the path of the law and as we will see when analysing both McGhee and Fairchild, it has blurred the distinction between legal and factual causation.
Dr. Swartz then indicated based on the questionnaire completed by the injured worker at the time of his evaluation in or about June 2016, the applicant’s activities of daily living were not significantly effective. It is noted on the record the injured worker claimed he was able to do various activities. Based on the
On Monday, 11-16-2015 she recalled the claimant had punched in early for work that morning and did not say anything to her until shortly later around mid-morning when the claimant came into her office. She said the claimant was brief with her when she requested to file a Workers’ Compensation claim for her alleged right wrist injury coupled with pain to her right fingers. She claimed that her injury was work-related, and her injury occurred on 11-12-2015.
In referring to the allegations of the particular claim and to the CT claim of injuries which Mr. Arzuz has alleged within his post-termination claim, she argued that Mr. Arzuz had never reported or complained about the underlying medical conditions which he is complaining about to the body-parts which were affected by his claim. For the short amount of time he has been employed with her company, she said Mr. Arzuz’s sedentary position which requires very little physical activities to perform the job is not fast-paced or repetitive since the physical actions with the use of hands and fingers to assemble light pieces of motherboards require very little repetitious movements. After going through Mr. Arzuz’s personnel file, she found he never made a
Zamudio, Human Resources Administrator and acting custodian of personnel records of the Domino Realty Management Company who allowed access, and copies in support of any relevant information pertaining to any injuries, had located a “Work/School Status Report” under the name of the “Talbert Medical Group.” The document had placed the claimant off from work from 2-5-01 through 2-5-01 for pain to the claimants left knee, and yet, according to Ms. Zamudio, the document did not state that a work related injury occurred as there were no other documentation in support of an injury. Furthermore, the witnesses had not cited any job related incidents where the claimants left knee from 2001 had been injured were the alleged 2001 left knee had been irritated or exacerbated in any
The Plaintiffs felt that since the hospital was licensed and accredited that they should be held responsible for their employees and their actions. It states in the regulations that any infraction of the bylaws imposes liability for the injury. At any time if Dr. Alexander had questions or concerns he could have reached out to an expert in this field to consult
We found that both witnesses claimed that there was no correlation to suggest that any of these alleged injuries specified by the claimant’s attorneys and by the claimant himself occurred or where the claimant suffered a stroke. Also, both witnesses were unaware if the claimant was experiencing any non-industrial stressors or if there were any outside non-work related factors that would suggest the claimant was suffering from any psychological problems and/or issues because of his employment.
Ms. Almanza claimed she researched and provided the claimant’s entire personnel file for this investigation and stated she was not aware of any industrial-related injuries associated with the claimants said injuries, by noting that no treating physicians ever provided any causation or the implied injuries. She provided proof with the claimant’s personnel file taken into as evidence by stating there was no medical evidence, doctors note or request of modified work duties to suggest any medical
1. Occupation and working ability of the Claimant, if this has changed, since the injury, previous occupation of the Claimant.
The court concluded they made a mistake in not ruling that the issue of personal injury must be determined under the Workers ' Compensation Act. The disposition on this issue eliminated the need to discuss the sufficiency of the evidence and other arguments relating to the amount of damages for personal injury and the fairness of the trial on that aspect of the case. It is somewhat unclear how Kerr-McGee determined that the federal regulation of nuclear energy prevents application of the workers ' compensation law for injuries on the job. The existence here of significant damage to Silkwood 's personal property in her apartment required the court to consider additional issues recognized in the appeal. In conclusion, the Workers ' Compensation Act applies only to
He testified he felt the claimant was at maximum medical improvement and had a rating of 3-B under the Board Permanency Guidelines. I asked him to explain how he reached his opinion and he indicated that since this case involved both the neck and the left shoulder it was not amendable to a schedule loss of use. He then turned to Table 11.2 for soft tissue spine injuries. He stated the claimant had complaints with supporting imaging studies and therefore, under the Table 11.1 the appropriate rating would be 3-B.
*? Generally, you could possibly want your solicitor to take care of scenarios that involve injuries protracted as part of your work spot. The injuries may result from a faulty operate surroundings or
As requested, I have reviewed the facts of the above-captioned file, along with the applicable law and summarized same in this memorandum. Mrs. Mary Smith suffered an injury to her right ankle in an automobile accident on 10/3/95. After surgery and months of rehabilitation, Mrs. Smith still suffers daily. I have researched the facts regarding a personal injury action against Paul Joseph, as well as a medical malpractice action against the medical providers.
Accepting workplace injury settlements can greatly affect your continuous care from any of the work related injuries.