Idaho: Continued Pain Does Not Contradict Finding That Worker Reached Maximum Medical Improvement

An injured worker’s contention that she still suffered significant pain was not sufficient to contradict the Commission’s finding that the worker had nevertheless reached a point of maximum medical improvement, held an Idaho court. In fact, the worker’s evidence that she was not improving tended to bolster the Commission’s findings. Noting also that the Commission had broad discretion in crediting the testimony of one medical expert over that of another, the court affirmed the Commission’s findings that the worker was not entitled to recover the costs of additional medical treatment and only a small percentage of permanent disability indemnity. The court agreed with the Commission that the worker’s submission of medical bills appeared to have no correlation with any medical records or testimony in the case.

Thomas A. Robinson, J.D., the Feature National Columnist for the LexisNexis Workers’ Compensation eNewsletter, is a leading commentator and expert on the law of workers’ compensation.

LexisNexis Online Subscribers: Citations below link to Lexis Advance. Bracketed citations link to lexis.com.

See Shubert v. Macy's West, Inc., 2015 Ida. LEXIS 69 (Feb. 27, 2015) [2015 Ida. LEXIS 69 (Feb. 27, 2015)]

See generally Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, § 80.03 [80.03]

Source: Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, the nation’s leading authority on workers’ compensation law.

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