Failing to include medical treatments for related injuries in a compromise and release agreement will disqualify an injured worker from receiving payments for treatments allegedly causally related to the work injury, despite having received past payments for treatment of the condition, the Commonwealth Court has ruled.
On Jan. 24, a split three-judge Commonwealth Court panel ruled in Amore Restaurant v. Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board that a workers’ compensation judge erred by using previous payment of the injured worker’s medical bills as persuasive evidence to grant the worker penalties. The court’s decision, which was issued as an unreported memorandum, overruled the workers’ compensation judge and the Workers’ Compensation Board of Appeals, which had supported the judge’s decision.
