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QME Exams
When the injured worker’s treating doctor releases the worker
from care and/or says the worker is “permanent and stationary,”
the insurance company may propose that the worker get a final evaluation
by selecting a doctor from a panel of three doctors from a State of
California list. This procedure, known as a QME panel, is often proposed
in a letter to the injured worker. An injured worker should consult
with an attorney before choosing a doctor from this panel and going
through with the evaluation. Although a number of fair and reasonable
doctors are on these panels, there tend to be more company and insurance
oriented doctors on the QME panels than doctors favorable to injured
workers. A worker who picks a doctor from the panel and goes to that
doctor for a final evaluation will probably be unable to have an attorney
send him or her to a physician for a later evaluation, if the QME panel
doctor’s opinion is unfavorable. The worker essentially runs the
risk of being stuck with an unfavorable opinion by choosing a QME panel
doctor.
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