Lopez, Thomas

Thomas Lopez claimed permanent total disability from four consolidated injury claims arising from his work as a flatbed truck driver. The WCJ found PTD from the combined effect of two admitted injuries (left knee/right ankle on 4/5/2000 and right knee on 8/14/2000), found two other claims non-industrial, and issued a combined unapportioned award based on the treating physician's report and a vocational expert's opinion. CIGA sought reconsideration, arguing the medical opinions were not substantial evidence, the vocational report was improperly admitted (not served at the MSC), and that the vocational expert relied on pain complaints rather than work restrictions. The Appeals Board rescinded the F&A and remanded, finding numerous due process violations from the WCJ's failure to frame issues and require a completed PTCS at the MSC, that neither the treating physician's nor the AME's reporting was properly addressed as substantial medical evidence, and that the vocational expert improperly inserted his own medical opinions in violation of Nunes. The Board also admonished applicant's counsel for material misstatements of fact in the verified answer.