What the panel ordered
Petition for Reconsideration denied; WCJ Findings and Order that panel no. 7464239 is not valid is affirmed.
Petition for Removal filed by defendant seeking removal of WCJ Findings of Fact and Order invalidating QME panel no. 7464239; WCJ Report recommended denial of removal petition; WCAB panel denies removal petition.
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 WCJ and WCAB found defendant's July 7, 2021 objection letter invalid because it did not include the mandatory QME panel request form required by sections 4061(c) and 4062(a), invalidating the subsequent QME panel request and panel no. 7464239.
From the decision · page 2The WCJ issued the F&O on March 5, 2022, finding "Panel no. 7464239 is not valid." (Findings of Fact No. 3.) Defendant filed a Petition for Removal on April 4, 2022, averring "the
The facts that decided it
What the panel treated as outcome-determinative, and which side it favoured.
Defendant's July 7, 2021 objection letter did not include the mandatory QME panel request form.
Favours Applicant prevailed
This failure invalidated defendant's subsequent QME panel request and panel no. 7464239, leading to denial of removal petition.
From the decision · page 6However, whether the dispute arises out of a determination of permanent disability, the need for future medical care, or a disputed body part, sections 4061 and 4062 both require the provision of a QME panel request form to an unrepresented applicant. Section 4061(c) provides that "[i]f either the employee or employer objects to a medical determination made by the treating physician concerning the existence or extent of permanent impairment and limitations or the need for future medical care, and if the employee is not represented by an attorney, the employer shall immediately provide the employee with a form prescribed by the medical director with which to request assignment of a panel of three qualified medical evaluators." (Lab. Code § 4061(c).) Section 4062(a) contains identical language, requiring that for all objections to medical determinations not covered by sections 4060 or 4061 involving unrepresented employees, "the employer shall immediately provide the employee with a form prescribed by the medical director with which to request assignment of a panel of three qualified medical evaluators." (Cal. Lab. Code § 4062(a).) The provision of the required form in both instances is mandatory.
What the panel did with the medical opinions
The role the physician served, and the weight the opinion carried. Physicians are named here as the decision names them; we do not score them.
Identified injury to the left shoulder and requested MRI of left shoulder and thoracic region.
From the decision · page 2On June 30, 2021, primary treating physician Gurinder Dhindsa, M.D. issued a supplemental report identifying injury to the left shoulder and requested an MRI of the left shoulder and thoracic region. (Ex. 116, report of Gurinder Dhindsa, M.D., dated June 30, 2021.) Applicant was not represented at the time.
The rules the panel named
Authorities as the decision cited them, with how this panel applied each one.
Lab. Code 4061(c), 4062(a)
Sections 4061(c) and 4062(a) require that an employer immediately provide an unrepresented employee with a form prescribed by the medical director to request assignment of a panel of three qualified medical evaluators when objecting to a medical determination.
The WCJ and WCAB applied these provisions to find defendant's objection letter invalid for failure to provide the required form to the unrepresented applicant.
From the decision · page 6However, whether the dispute arises out of a determination of permanent disability, the need for future medical care, or a disputed body part, sections 4061 and 4062 both require the provision of a QME panel request form to an unrepresented applicant. Section 4061(c) provides that "[i]f either the employee or employer objects to a medical determination made by the treating physician concerning the existence or extent of permanent impairment and limitations or the need for future medical care, and if the employee is not represented by an attorney, the employer shall immediately provide the employee with a form prescribed by the medical director with which to request assignment of a panel of three qualified medical evaluators." (Lab. Code § 4061(c).) Section 4062(a) contains identical language, requiring that for all objections to medical determinations not covered by sections 4060 or 4061 involving unrepresented employees, "the employer shall immediately provide the employee with a form prescribed by the medical director with which to request assignment of a panel of three qualified medical evaluators." (Cal. Lab. Code § 4062(a).) The provision of the required form in both instances is mandatory.
What proof carried it
The evidence the panel weighed, by kind.
Defendant's July 7, 2021 objection letter did not include the mandatory QME panel request form required by sections 4061(c) and 4062(a).
From the decision · page 6However, whether the dispute arises out of a determination of permanent disability, the need for future medical care, or a disputed body part, sections 4061 and 4062 both require the provision of a QME panel request form to an unrepresented applicant. Section 4061(c) provides that "[i]f either the employee or employer objects to a medical determination made by the treating physician concerning the existence or extent of permanent impairment and limitations or the need for future medical care, and if the employee is not represented by an attorney, the employer shall immediately provide the employee with a form prescribed by the medical director with which to request assignment of a panel of three qualified medical evaluators." (Lab. Code § 4061(c).) Section 4062(a) contains identical language, requiring that for all objections to medical determinations not covered by sections 4060 or 4061 involving unrepresented employees, "the employer shall immediately provide the employee with a form prescribed by the medical director with which to request assignment of a panel of three qualified medical evaluators." (Cal. Lab. Code § 4062(a).) The provision of the required form in both instances is mandatory.
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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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