Tuesday
Aug062019
New Attack on PPD
Tuesday, August 6, 2019 at 05:36AM Even though the Oklahoma Supreme Court has previously opined that the Legislature has the constitutional right to require permanent partial disability (PPD) awards to be based upon the "latest edition" of the AMA guides, a new angle of attack is the subject of two pending cases.....Gordon George v. Umicore Autocat USA, Inc., Supreme Court number 118115; and Amanda Byrd v. Mazzio's LLC, being filed tomorrow.
The two cases allege that the "latest edition" of the AMA Guides that is required by the Administrative Workers' Compensation Act is actually the Fifth Edition, because the Physicians Advisory Committee never approved the Sixth Edition. In fact, the PAC rejected the use of the Sixth Edition after it came out in 2009. These latest cases also allege the Hill decision on the AMA Sixth was premature because of the lack of PAC approval.
The 2019 Legislature changed the "latest edition" to the "Sixth Edition," but these two cases could affect cases in the first five years of AWCA jurisdiction.
---Bob Burke (8/5/19)
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