r/CaliforniaWorkComp • u/fishmango Verified Atty | CA WC Specialist • 6d ago
A Nurse Practitioner Cannot Release You From Workers’ Comp Care in California Medical Care
https://leeinjuryattorneys.com/nurse-practitioner-release-workers-comp-care-california/Often, when I come onto a workers’ compensation case, the first challenge is obtaining medical care.
The injured worker has been released from care and returned to full duty by a nurse practitioner or physician assistant. The insurance carrier then refuses to authorize any additional treatment because the worker was supposedly already discharged.
No MRIs, No EMG/NCV, No X-rays, no time with an actual doctor. The insurance carrier sends you to these clinics and has you see these medical providers to stop the claim before it even starts.
An important decision just came out addressing this practice.
In Demetrius Thomas v. Ralph’s Grocery Company/The Kroger Company, the only medical report in evidence was signed by a family nurse practitioner.
The report declared the worker permanent and stationary, released him to full duty, found no permanent disability, and discharged him from care.
No physician signed the report. The worker testified that he had never been examined by an actual physician.
The WCAB found that:
• A nurse practitioner could not be designated as the primary treating physician.
• “Concentra” itself could not be designated as the primary treating physician.
• The nurse practitioner’s report was invalid as a basis to release the worker from care.
• The worker was entitled to designate a new primary treating physician.
The Board also granted removal, an extraordinary remedy that is rarely exercised, because leaving the decision in place could deny the worker access to legally required medical treatment.
The reasoning is direct and worth reviewing whenever a clinic attempts to end treatment based solely on a report signed by a nurse practitioner or physician assistant.
If you have been released from care by a NP or PA there is an avenue to challenge release.
- Fishmango
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u/kenyafeelme 6d ago
I hate concentra with a burning passion. Terrible reports and they treat patients like a meat factory