WCAB Issues Significant Panel Opinion Invalidating Untimely UR Decision

A California Workers' Compensation Appeals Board panel ruled Thursday – in a decision deemed significant by the full board – that a utilization-review decision made within the time frame allowed by the Rules of the Administrative Director, but issued to the worker one day too late, is invalid. As such, the panel said, the WCAB gets to decide the necessity of the medical treatment at issue. The full board's decision to deem the decision in Bodam v. San Bernardino County to be "significant" means it is citable for persuasive purposes, but not binding precedent...