What the panel ordered
The Board affirmed the WCJ's Findings of Fact & Order dated September 29, 2022, denying defendant's petition for reconsideration and upholding the presumption of compensability for applicant's throat cancer.
Defendant sought reconsideration of the WCJ's Findings of Fact & Order issued on September 29, 2022, which found applicant sustained industrial throat cancer and that defendant failed to rebut the presumption of compensability under Labor Code section 3212.1(d). The WCJ filed a Report recommending denial of reconsideration, which the Board adopted and incorporated.
What was disputed, and how it came out
Each issue the panel decided, with the reasoning it gave. An outcome is what this panel did on this record — not a rule, and not a prediction.
The Board found that the applicant sustained an industrial injury to his throat in the form of throat cancer and that the defendant failed to rebut the presumption of compensability under Labor Code section 3212.1(d). The defendant's medical evidence, including QME Dr. Mahmoudi's opinion, did not meet the burden to establish no reasonable link between the carcinogen exposure and the cancer, as absence of medical literature alone is insufficient to rebut the presumption.
From the decision · page 1Defendant seeks reconsideration of the Findings of Fact & Order (F&O) issued on September 29, 2022, by the workers' compensation administrative law judge (WCJ). The WCJ found that applicant sustained an industrial injury to his throat in the form of throat cancer and that defendant failed to rebut the presumption of compensability pursuant to Labor Code section 3212.1(d).2 Defendant contends that the medical evidence demonstrates non-industrial human papilloma virus (HPV) solely caused applicant to develop his throat cancer, thereby rebutting the section 3212.1(d) presumption.