Apparently there is a new notice coming out of the Medical Unit: Medical Unit Memo.  This copy is reportedly being attached to all panels now issued by the Medical Unit.

The grounds for obtaining a replacement panel are few, but one of the most common ones is when the Medical Unit fails to follow its own procedures for issuing a panel.  In my experience, usually the applicant will request a panel with the specialty of chiropractic (without any supporting documentation), when the treating physician is a orthopedist or some other M.D.

This is, of course, is a violation of California Code of Regulations § 31.1(b).  Requests to issue a replacement panel sometimes meet with resistance and judicial intervention becomes necessary.

According to this memo, however, it appears that the Medical Unit is not reviewing the panel requests for accuracy and is shifting the burden of following the regulations to the parties.

For defense attorneys, this changes little – as always, we must remain vigilant to make sure a lung or psyche applicant does not get “evaluated” by a chiropractor.  So, as always, I am keeping my DoR forms loaded and my finger on the trigger!

Presently, I am trying to get a copy of the memo which has some letterhead or signature, and possibly a date, so that it carries with it some official weight.

As soon as your humble editor has one, so will you.  If anyone has an official copy, eternal gratitude will be yours if you could e-mail it to:  gregory.grinberg@htklaw.com.