The Pennsylvania Supreme Court is set to determine the extent to which claimants who were still litigating their impairment rating evaluations when the justices issued their landmark workers’ compensation decision in Protz v. Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board (Derry Area School District) are entitled to the benefit of that ruling.

The Supreme Court’s 2017 ruling in the Protz case (referred to as “Protz II” because it was decided on its second trip up to the appellate courts) partially reversed a Commonwealth Court decision by invalidating in its entirety Section 306(a.2) of the Workers’ Compensation Act, which required doctors performing IREs of claimants to rely on “the most recent edition” of the American Medical Association Impairment Rating Guides. The justices found that portion of the statute unconstitutionally delegated the legislature’s lawmaking authority to the AMA. Consequently, IREs performed pursuant to those guidelines were unconstitutional.

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