CompFox AI Summary
The Workers' Compensation Appeals Board denied the Lodi Unified School District's petition for reconsideration, affirming the administrative law judge's award of pain medications and trigger-point injections to applicant Tamara Jean Stafford. The Board found the defendant's utilization review physician improperly applied ACOEM guidelines, which primarily address acute injuries, to the applicant's chronic condition. The Board clarified that while ACOEM guidelines are presumptively correct, variances are permissible when reasonably required to cure and relieve an employee's injury effects, as demonstrated by the applicant's treating physician's recommendations.
Full Decision Text1 Pages
The Workers' Compensation Appeals Board denied the Lodi Unified School District's petition for reconsideration, affirming the administrative law judge's award of pain medications and trigger-point injections to applicant Tamara Jean Stafford. The Board found the defendant's utilization review physician improperly applied ACOEM guidelines, which primarily address acute injuries, to the applicant's chronic condition. The Board clarified that while ACOEM guidelines are presumptively correct, variances are permissible when reasonably required to cure and relieve an employee's injury effects, as demonstrated by the applicant's treating physician's recommendations.
Read the full decision
Join + legal professionals. Create a free account to access the complete text of this decision and search our entire database.