Workers Comp Zone

A Partner at Boxer & Gerson LLP, Julius Young has practiced worker’s compensation law and social security disability law since 1979. He has represented thousands of individuals who have sustained life-changing injuries or illnesses while on the job. In every case, his goal is to secure the medical treatments his clients need.

December 23, 2014

DEAR SANTA

Dear Santa: You, your elves and your reindeer troupe must be very busy. Hope you aren’t having any near-miss collisions with the prototype Drones that Amazon is testing to use for its deliveries. I’m getting started late on my wish-list. But here goes. I have a big wish list of items I’d like to see changed. But […]


December 22, 2014

60 MINUTES LOOKS AT UR

In case you missed it, a recent segment on “60 Minutes” examined problems with utilization review of mental health treatment, albeit in a non-workers’ comp setting. The program’s focus was on treatment denials by doctors doing utilization reviews for Anthem Health. A number of young adults who were at risk for suicide or violent behavior […]


December 11, 2014

STEVENS WRIT GRANTED

Could the California courts finally be ready to rule on the constitutionality of Independent Medical Review? We may be on the verge of seeing that issue decided. On December 3, 2014, the California Court of Appeal First Appellate District Division One granted the petition for writ of review filed San Francisco attorney Joseph Waxman on […]


December 4, 2014

ENFORCING

It appears that the DWC is prepared to get tougher on enforcement of IMR regulations. In a November 25, 2014 newsline the DWC announced that as of December it will begin to mete out penalties where claims administrators fail to send records to Maximus as required by Reg 9792.10.5. Here is what the DWC announced: […]


December 1, 2014

THANKING

Aa a lawyer representing injured workers, I’ve often wondered how those workers perceive the end of the year holidays. Thanksgiving gives way to Black Friday, and then to Cyber Monday, and pretty soon the Christmas and New Year season is upon us. Many Americans experience the end of the year holidays as incredibly stressful. Whether […]


November 22, 2014

McCOOL

Can an insurer submit medication prescription requests to utilization review (UR) even where those medications have been repeatedly authorized before? That question has been hotly debated in California workers’ comp circles  after a recent WCAB Significant Panel Decision, Patterson v. The Oaks Farm (2014) 79 CCC 910.  The issue comes up again and again in […]


November 13, 2014

HIGH UNFAVORABLES

The American public is skeptical about workers’ comp. That’s the take away from results of a recent Harris Poll, noted in a workcompcentral.com by Ben Miller. Harris Interactive performed an October 2014 online survey of several thousand people, commissioned by a pharmacy company. Here are the questions Harris asked and their findings: “How strongly do […]