At oral argument over the constitutionality of a Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act provision that requires the incorporation of “the most recent edition” of the American Medical Association guidelines for evaluating claimants’ impairment ratings, several justices questioned the legislature’s decision to give a private group such wide latitude to shape state law.
Protz v. Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board (Derry Area School District) centers on the issue of whether Section 306(a.2) of the act violates Article II, Section 1 of the Pennsylvania Constitution by delegating the legislature’s lawmaking authority to the AMA and allowing it to set the criteria for workers’ compensation adjudications.
