Fields, Laurie

Applicant Laurie Fields, a clinical professor in psychiatry, claimed cumulative industrial injury to multiple body systems from mold exposure during years of water intrusion at her UC workplace, ending July 1, 2020. The WCJ found applicant failed to prove AOE/COE injury and ordered take-nothing, relying on internal medicine QME Dr. Raphael's reporting. On reconsideration the Board found the QME's reporting did not constitute substantial medical evidence because it dismissed the only mold testing, ignored the aspergillosis diagnosis, and applied a predominant-causation rather than contributory-causation standard. The Board also flagged that the treating physician's reporting was improperly disregarded simply because it was obtained outside the workers' compensation arena, and that the CT claim may be presumptively compensable under section 5402(b)(1) due to a denial issued beyond 90 days. The Board granted reconsideration, rescinded the F&O, appointed Dr. Richard Levy as a regular physician under Labor Code section 5701, and remanded for further proceedings.