Court Publishes Decision Clarifying Standard for WCJs to Reject IRE Opinions

The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania on Wednesday ordered publication of a February ruling that an employer could not convert a claimant's status from totally disabled to partially disabled based on an impairment-rating evaluation physician's opinion that the worker had less than a 50% whole-body impairment from his industrial injury. A worker at maximum medical improvement must have an impairment rating of more than 50% to avoid being reclassified as partially disabled. Since Pennsylvania's Workers' Compensation Act caps partial disability benefits at 500 weeks, an em...