This letter is in follow up to our telephone conversation of 08/09/17.
As you may recall, you sent me some emails asking me to review this matter. You forwarded me a letter you received from Dr. Scheid dated 07/06/17, indicating the claimant is totally disabled. You also forwarded me a proposed letter to the IME doctor which was written by Rose Mary Newton, the Town of Colonie HR director. You were concerned about how to proceed and asked me to provide you with recommendations for further handling.
As you now, this case is established for an injury to the low back which occurred on 07/09/15. To date there has been no lost time in this case. There was an 11/20/15 Administrative Decision which established this case and found no compensable …show more content…
Scheid giving him a total disability. I would therefore recommend that you obtain an IME on degree of disability. From a compensation point of view we have to comply with the requirements of Section 137, the related regulations and the controlling case law. As you know, we are not permitted to ask the doctor any leading questions in our request for the IME. I do not believe we can use Rose Mary’s letter for an IME in the Workers’ Compensation case.
We could send the doctor any documents or statements surround the claimant’s disciplinary action but I do not think we can ask the doctor to comment on whether or not the claimant is out of work because of his reaction to the disciplinary action taken by the town. Rather I think we would have to ask the doctor whether he feels the claimant has a causally related disability causally related to the accident of this file and, if so, what the degree of disability is. I believe the draft letter that you sent me would be considered overly suggestive and further would call on the doctor to render a legal opinion as to what the claimant’s motivation was in going out of work.
While those are the requirements of the Workers’ Compensation Law, the Town is certainly free to obtain an IME in the 207-c case. I would again defer to the town’s attorney in that matter for the appropriate language in the IME
As you may recall, you sent me some emails asking me to review this matter. You forwarded me a letter you received from Dr. Scheid dated 07/06/17, indicating the claimant is totally disabled. You also forwarded me a proposed letter to the IME doctor which was written by Rose Mary Newton, the Town of Colonie HR director. You were concerned about how to proceed and asked me to provide you with recommendations for further handling.
As you now, this case is established for an injury to the low back which occurred on 07/09/15. To date there has been no lost time in this case. There was an 11/20/15 Administrative Decision which established this case and found no compensable …show more content…
Scheid giving him a total disability. I would therefore recommend that you obtain an IME on degree of disability. From a compensation point of view we have to comply with the requirements of Section 137, the related regulations and the controlling case law. As you know, we are not permitted to ask the doctor any leading questions in our request for the IME. I do not believe we can use Rose Mary’s letter for an IME in the Workers’ Compensation case.
We could send the doctor any documents or statements surround the claimant’s disciplinary action but I do not think we can ask the doctor to comment on whether or not the claimant is out of work because of his reaction to the disciplinary action taken by the town. Rather I think we would have to ask the doctor whether he feels the claimant has a causally related disability causally related to the accident of this file and, if so, what the degree of disability is. I believe the draft letter that you sent me would be considered overly suggestive and further would call on the doctor to render a legal opinion as to what the claimant’s motivation was in going out of work.
While those are the requirements of the Workers’ Compensation Law, the Town is certainly free to obtain an IME in the 207-c case. I would again defer to the town’s attorney in that matter for the appropriate language in the IME