Last month, in the case of Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare v. Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board (Slessler), No. 2209 C.D. 2013, the Commonwealth Court took up a matter dealing with the competency of doctors testifying with respect to an impairment rating evaluation. While the procedural history and fact pattern of the case are fairly convoluted, the ultimate holding provides some guidance regarding an injured worker’s ability to challenge the validity of an IRE.
The matter came before the court on petition by the employer, seeking to challenge the Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board’s decision affirming a workers’ compensation judge’s (WCJ) decision denying the employer’s petition to modify compensation benefits based on an IRE. The modification petition sought to change the claimant’s benefit status from temporary total disability (TTD) to temporary partial disability (TPD) based upon an IRE that resulted in a total body impairment of 8 percent, which is significantly lower than the needed 50 percent to maintain ongoing TTD benefits. While the board also reversed the WCJ’s determination to include major depression, panic disorder and status post C5-6 fusion into the description of injury, that issue was not before the court.
