{"id":164,"date":"2016-06-26T21:08:01","date_gmt":"2016-06-27T04:08:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.workcomplawsd.com\/?page_id=164"},"modified":"2016-06-26T21:12:20","modified_gmt":"2016-06-27T04:12:20","slug":"pd-ratings","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.workcomplawsd.com\/?page_id=164","title":{"rendered":"Permanent Disability Ratings"},"content":{"rendered":"

RATING REPORTS<\/h3>\n
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Do you need assistance rating an AME or QME report? Want someone who goes beyond a standard mathematical rating. Look no further! Do you need help knowing if the doctor rated the case accurately? Need help with a cross-examination? If so, please contact us for assistance with PD ratings! Call now (858) 769-1LAW (1529)<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

AMA GUIDE 5th EDITION, WHAT ABOUT THE 6TH?<\/h3>\n
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In California, the doctors are mandated to use the AMA guides 5th<\/sup> edition when rating their reports. L.C. Section 4660 and 4660.1. Almaraz Guzman<\/em> can give them leeway to use the 6th<\/sup> edition where they deem appropriate. Fraizer v. CDCR<\/em>, ADJ8008017.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

ALMARAZ GUZMAN<\/h3>\n
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Almaraz Guzman II <\/em>indicates a strict application of the AMA guides 5th<\/sup> edition is rebuttable if the medical examiner does not feel the guides accurately depicts the applicant\u2019s true level of impairment considering the impairment on ADL\u2019s. A physician can utilize any chapter within the guides, the 4 corners, to reflect the applicant\u2019s true impairment level.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

FIGURE 15-19, SPINAL IMPAIRMENT RATINGS?<\/h3>\n
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Use of Figure 15-19, page 427, to rate spinal impairments. Some doctors have been using this table to rate general spinal impairments covered by DRE or ROM. Laury v. R.W. Concrete Contractors<\/em> 2011 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 77 and Wood v. U-Haul <\/em>2010 Cal. Wrk. Comp. P.D. LEXIS 535 offered conflicting results on whether figure 15-19 was allowed in an Almaraz Guzman<\/em> II<\/em> rebuttal. In Wood,<\/em> the appeals board noted that figure 15-19 was not intended to determine PD, rather a conversion table used to covert WPI to a regional spine disability. They found the doctor\u2019s report was not substantial medical evidence. In the Laury<\/em> case, applicant had 5 spinal surgeries and the figure 15-19 analogy was allowed.<\/p>\n

Another case, Michael Graham v. Pepsi Bottling Group<\/em>, 2011 Cal. Wrk. Comp. Lexis 368, figure 15-19 was disallowed because the PQME did not adequately explain why that figure should be used.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Do you need assistance rating an AME or QME report? Want someone who goes beyond a standard mathematical rating. Look no further! […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-templates\/page_fullwidth.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-164","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.workcomplawsd.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/164","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.workcomplawsd.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.workcomplawsd.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.workcomplawsd.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.workcomplawsd.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=164"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.workcomplawsd.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/164\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":168,"href":"https:\/\/www.workcomplawsd.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/164\/revisions\/168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.workcomplawsd.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=164"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}