Judge Finds Unreasonable Delays, Possible Underground Rules in QME Denials

A judge in Southern California on Tuesday ruled that the Division of Workers’ Compensation appears to have relied on unenforceable underground regulations when it denied applications for reappointment from two qualified medical evaluators and unreasonably delayed hearings when the doctors objected. “The relatively straightforward issues concerning the reappointment, the fact that the matter is important to petitioners’ livelihood and reputation, and the fact that DWC probably erred in relying on underground regulations, require that the post-termination he...