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.
Making headlines this week is another high profile indictment in California workers’ comp. The federal charges allege a fraudulent kickback scheme among various Southern California medical providers, including doctors, chiropractors and durable equipment providers. It’s lengthy, but here (in italics) is the press release from the office of U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy which outlines the […]
Chalk one up for the “plenary power” of the legislature. California’s courts are seemingly reluctant to challenge the legislature’s prerogative in workers’ comp. The drafters of SB 863 and the California Legislature scored a big win last week as the California Court of Appeal 1st District nixed a constitutional challenge to the IMR provisions of […]
The California Court of Appeal has now rendered a decision in a closely watched case, Margaret Batten v. WCAB and Long Beach Memorial Hospital. The central question in the case was whether California’s QME process statutes permit the admission into evidence of a non-treating physician report obtained by an applicant. In Batten the applicant, represented by […]
Could federal oversight of state workers’ comp systems be on the horizon? Although politically unlikely, some Congressional Democrats are proposing that. In an October 20, 2015 letter to U.S. Labor Secretary Thomas Perez, ten U.S.Senators and Representatives call for Perez to “strengthen oversight of state workers’ compensation programs by using the agency’s expertise and authorities.” […]
While the 2015 legislative season is over, it’s not too late to analyze the Governor Brown’s veto messages on two prominent workers’ comp bills, AB 305 and AB 1542. Not that it was a surprise that those were vetoed. The word had been out for some time that Brown’s administration favored neither. AB 305 (Lorena […]
Drug testing is an increasing cost driver in California workers’ comp. That’s one of the take-aways from a just released study of drug testing in the California workers’ comp system. The study, written by Stacy Jones of the California Workers’ Compensation Institute, analyzed 2.8 million clinical lab service records. The numbers are interesting and a […]
The 2015 legislative season is over. As expected, Governor Brown has signed two more workers’ comp bills and vetoed two bills. The most important bill signed is AB 1124, to establish a workers’ comp prescription drug formulary, sponsored by Assemblyman Henry T. Perea of Fresno. Several months ago it appeared that negotiations over the formulary bill […]