T&T Marketing Services, Inc.; State Compensation Insurance Fund, Hector Sanchez Barragan, WORKERS’ COMPENSATION APPEALS BOARDSTATE OF CALIFORNIAHECTOR SANCHEZ BARRAGAN,Applicant,vs.T&T MARKETING SERVICES, INC.; STATE COMPENSATION INSURANCE FUND,Defendants.Case No. ADJ8286511(Sacramento District Office)OPINION AND DECISION AFTER RECONSIDERATION On May 15, 2017, we issued an Order Granting Reconsideration in order to provide us with sufficient opportunity to further study the factual and legal issues in this case. We deemed the action necessary to enable us to reach a just and reasoned decision in this matter. This is our Decision After Reconsideration. Hector Sanchez Barragan (applicant), sought reconsideration of the Findings and Award and Order (FAO) issued by a workers’ compensation administrative law judge (WCJ) on February 23, 2017. In relevant part, the F AO determined that the Independent Medical Review (IMR) determination upholding the Utilization Review (UR) denial of a prescription for Norco did not exceed the powers of the Administrative Director since the determination is one that requires medical expertise, nor was the determination so plainly erroneous that a layperson lacking medical expertise could understand the error. Applicant argued that the IMR determination exceeds the Administrative Director’s powers because it is based upon a plainly erroneous application of the Medical Treatment Utilization Schedule (MTUS) guidelines. The WCJ prepared a Report and Recommendation on Petition for Reconsideration (Report), recommending denial of applicant’s Petition. Defendant filed an Answer to the Petition, also recommending that it be denied. , We have considered the allegations of the Petition, the Report of the WCJ in response thereto, defendant’s Answer, and we have carefully reviewed the record in this case. Based upon our review of the record; for the reasons .stated in the WCJ’s Report, which we
