Court Tosses IRE Report from Doc. without 'Clinical Practice'

The Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court ruled Wednesday that the impairment-rating evaluation issued by a board-certified occupational medicine specialist was invalid because the doctor was not qualified to serve as an impairment-rating evaluation physician.Under Pennsylvania’s Workers' Compensation Act, a doctor must be "active in clinical practice for at least 20 hours per week" to serve as an IRE physician. The Commonwealth Court noted that the question of what it means to be "active in clinical practice" was a question of first impression. The appellate court concluded that Dr. ...