What the panel ordered
WCAB rescinded the WCJ's decision invalidating chiropractic QME panel and ordered parties to utilize chiropractic Panel Number 7479827
Petition for reconsideration filed by applicant challenging invalidation of QME panel specialty; WCJ decision rescinded and replaced by WCAB panel decision after reconsideration
What was disputed, and how it came out
Each issue the panel decided, with the reasoning it gave. An outcome is what this panel did on this record — not a rule, and not a prediction.
The WCAB found that the party first requesting a QME panel has the legal right to designate the panel specialty and that chiropractic is a medically appropriate specialty for the disputed medical issues despite treatment limitations.
From the decision · page 54. A chiropractic panel is not medically or otherwise inappropriate to address the disputed medical issues for this claim.
The facts that decided it
What the panel treated as outcome-determinative, and which side it favoured.
Applicant obtained chiropractic QME Panel Number 7479827 first.
Favours Applicant prevailed
The party first requesting a QME panel has the legal right to designate the panel specialty, supporting the validity of the chiropractic panel.
From the decision · page 42. Applicant obtained Panel Number 7479827 (Chiropractic DCH).
Defendant objected to the chiropractic panel claiming orthopedic surgery is the proper specialty.
Favours Defendant prevailed
The dispute over specialty was adjudicated, and the chiropractic specialty was found appropriate despite treatment limitations.
From the decision · page 43. Defendant objected to Panel Number 7479827 on the basis that the proper specialty in this case is Orthopedic Surgery (MOS).
Chiropractors may not perform surgery or prescribe medication but are certified and qualified to act as QMEs.
Favours Applicant prevailed
This supports that chiropractic is a medically appropriate specialty for the disputed medical issues.
From the decision · page 4It is acknowledged that a chiropractor may not perform surgery or prescribe medications. However, this does not preclude a chiropractor from acting as a QME. QMEs are expressly required to "[r]efrain from treating or soliciting to provide medical treatment, medical supplies or medical devices to the injured worker." (Cal. Code Regs., tit. 8, § 41(a)(4).) A chiropractic QME may not provide treatment to an injured worker while also acting as the QME and thus, applicant's specific treatment needs are not relevant to whether chiropractic is a medically appropriate specialty in this matter. Additionally, all QMEs must complete a course of instruction in disability evaluation report writing. (Cal. Code Regs., tit. 8, § 11.5.) Chiropractic QMEs are also required to be certified. (See Lab. Code, § 139.2(b); Cal. Code Regs., tit. 8, § 11(a)(4), 14.) This includes certification in workers' compensation evaluation through a mandatory course that addresses, among other topics, the proper use of the AMA Guides and medical treatment utilization schedule (MTUS). (Cal. Code Regs., tit. 8, § 14.) Chiropractors are consequently held to the same standard as other physicians that act as QMEs.
The rules the panel named
Authorities as the decision cited them, with how this panel applied each one.
Labor Code section 4062.2(b)
The party first requesting a QME panel has the legal right to designate the panel specialty pursuant to Labor Code section 4062.2(b).
Applied to determine the validity of the chiropractic QME panel specialty.
The same issues, filtered across the whole corpus — or paste your own facts and let the search rank by factor match.
About this page
- A published decision of the California Workers' Compensation Appeals Board, taken apart by what it turned on. The Board publishes the decision itself; this page adds the extraction and quotes the passage behind every claim.
- The injured worker is not named here, and the case caption is not printed. Physicians appear as the decision names them, because a medical opinion is an act in a public proceeding.
- Issues, outcomes and weights were extracted by AI and released only where the source passage checked. Read the official decision before relying on anything here. Not legal advice.
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