What the panel ordered
Petition for Reconsideration denied
Petition for Reconsideration filed and denied after review of WCJ report and record
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.
AOE/COEApplicant prevailedcardiac
The court found the medical opinion of PQME Dr. Richard Hyman, supported by the widow's unrebutted testimony about work-related stress from shift work, constituted substantial medical evidence that the decedent's death was work-related due to continuous trauma from shift work and sleep deprivation.
From the decision · page 1The relevant inquiry in a claim for a stress related physical injury is whether the work- related stress is a contributing cause as low as one percent to the applicant's injury. (McAllister v. Workmen's Comp. Appeals Bd. (1968) 69 Cal.2d 408, 418 [33 Cal.Comp.Cases 660]; Lamb v. Workmen's Comp Appeals Bd. (1974) 11 Cal.3d 274, 281 [39 Cal.Comp.Cases 310].) In this case, we agree with the WCJ that the opinion of panel qualified medical examiner (PQME) Richard Hyman, M.D., is substantial medical evidence that applicant met the burden of proof. (Escobedo v. Marshalls (2005) 70 Cal.Comp.Cases 604, 621 (Appeals Board en banc) [a medical opinion must be framed in terms of reasonable medical probability, it must not be speculative, it must be based on pertinent facts and on an adequate examination and history, and it must set forth reasoning in support of its conclusions].)