What the panel ordered
Petition for Removal granted; May 20, 2022 Findings and Order rescinded; matter returned to WCJ for further proceedings and decision.
Applicant seeks removal of the WCJ's May 20, 2022 Findings and Order denying applicant's request to select a new Qualified Medical Evaluator (QME). The WCAB grants removal, rescinds the May 20, 2022 decision, and returns the matter to the WCJ for further proceedings and decision.
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 WCJ's May 20, 2022 decision did not address the issues framed for decision, including whether the QME reporting was substantial medical evidence and whether the report complied with section 4628, thus failing to make findings on all facts involved as required by section 5313. The WCAB granted removal, rescinded the WCJ decision, and returned the matter for further proceedings.
From the decision · page 2On December 1, 2021, the parties proceeded to trial, framing issues of injury AOE/COE and "entitlement to replacement panel and disqualification of Dr. Woythaler as QME based upon the Applicant's [October 1, 2021] Petition." (Minutes of Hearing (Minutes), December 1, 2021, at p. 2:8.)