High Court Rules Exclusive Remedy Precludes Tort Claim Over UR Decision

The California Supreme Court ruled that workers’ compensation is the exclusive remedy for disputes arising out of the utilization review process, and suggested that lawmakers evaluate whether the system properly incentivizes doctors reviewing treatment requests to make “competent” decisions. Thursday’s decision in King v. CompPartners Inc. did not address what many considered a major question before the court: Does a UR physician owe a duty of care to injured workers? The high court affirmed the 4th District Court of Appeal decision finding that exc...