What the panel ordered
Petition for reconsideration granted; WCJ's decision affirmed except amended to correct dates of service for reports. Initial report (4/5/2023) is medical-legal; subsequent reports are medical treatment costs.
Petition for reconsideration by cost petitioner (Physical Rehabilitation Services, Dr. Abri Mirzaians, D.C.) of WCJ's Findings of Fact and Orders regarding classification of reports as medical-legal or medical treatment costs.
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.
Only the initial report was specifically requested as a medical-legal report to address a disputed issue; subsequent reports were routine progress reports not requested to resolve a dispute and thus are medical treatment costs.
From the decision · page 6In this case only the initial exam with a medical report is medical-legal. The remaining reports from Dr. Mirzaians were mere progress reports of the treating physician. They were not requested by anyone, nor do they identify any contested issue. The provision of progress reports is one of the duties of the primary treatment physician. Cal. Code of Regs. sec. 9785. But unless someone specifically requests a medical-legal opinion which shall be used to determine a dispute, those progress reports are medical treatment costs.