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PanelMed-legalLienDenied

Franco, Ursula

URSULA FRANCO, Applicant vs. VIE DE FRANCE YAMAZAKI; SOMPO AMERICAN INSURANCE COMPANY, Administered By BROADSPIRE SERVICES, Defendants

ADJ number: ADJ13570874
Decision date: Nov 16, 2025
District office: Van Nuys
WCJ: —
Claim administrator: Broadspire Services (administering for Sompo American Insurance Company)
Commissioners: KATHERINE A. ZALEWSKI, CHAIR

Injury / body parts: bilateral shoulders, left elbow, right wrist/hand (carpal tunnel)

LC §5909LC §5900CCR §10600

Summary

Applicant Ursula Franco settled her cumulative trauma claim via a $115,000 Compromise & Release approved May 24, 2024, in which defendant agreed to pay, adjust, or litigate all liens of record, including the lien of Universal Diagnostic & Imaging (UD&I) for $11,050. The lien, covering a medical-legal report by neurologist Benjamin Gross, M.D. and electrodiagnostic testing, was disallowed because UD&I was a general corporation owned by a psychologist (Jo Anne Kaplan, Ph.D.), not a validly formed professional corporation owned by physicians. The WCJ found UD&I failed to meet its burden of proving it was a validly licensed medical provider authorized to render the billed services. The Appeals Board denied reconsideration, holding that interpreting electrodiagnostic tests and rendering a medical diagnosis constitutes the practice of medicine, which a corporation owned by a non-physician cannot lawfully provide under the corporate practice of medicine doctrine. The Board relied principally on Allstate (2023) 94 Cal.App.5th 521 and related authority.

Issues

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Holding

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Analysis

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Applicant takeaway

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Defense takeaway

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Provider takeaway

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Similar decisions

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Full case search with summaries, PDFs, holdings, and filters is included with Member. This block is a decorative placeholder so the page layout is visible without exposing restricted text. Sign in or subscribe to Member to read the complete decision. The panel considered the record, the applicable statutes, and the arguments of the parties. Member is $25/month or $250/year and includes the weekly email digest, full case search, and bookmarks.

Full case search with summaries, PDFs, holdings, and filters is included with Member. This block is a decorative placeholder so the page layout is visible without exposing restricted text. Sign in or subscribe to Member to read the complete decision. The panel considered the record, the applicable statutes, and the arguments of the parties. Member is $25/month or $250/year and includes the weekly email digest, full case search, and bookmarks.

Full case search with summaries, PDFs, holdings, and filters is included with Member. This block is a decorative placeholder so the page layout is visible without exposing restricted text. Sign in or subscribe to Member to read the complete decision. The panel considered the record, the applicable statutes, and the arguments of the parties. Member is $25/month or $250/year and includes the weekly email digest, full case search, and bookmarks.

Full case search with summaries, PDFs, holdings, and filters is included with Member. This block is a decorative placeholder so the page layout is visible without exposing restricted text. Sign in or subscribe to Member to read the complete decision. The panel considered the record, the applicable statutes, and the arguments of the parties. Member is $25/month or $250/year and includes the weekly email digest, full case search, and bookmarks.

Full case search with summaries, PDFs, holdings, and filters is included with Member. This block is a decorative placeholder so the page layout is visible without exposing restricted text. Sign in or subscribe to Member to read the complete decision. The panel considered the record, the applicable statutes, and the arguments of the parties. Member is $25/month or $250/year and includes the weekly email digest, full case search, and bookmarks.

Full case search with summaries, PDFs, holdings, and filters is included with Member. This block is a decorative placeholder so the page layout is visible without exposing restricted text. Sign in or subscribe to Member to read the complete decision. The panel considered the record, the applicable statutes, and the arguments of the parties. Member is $25/month or $250/year and includes the weekly email digest, full case search, and bookmarks.

Full case search with summaries, PDFs, holdings, and filters is included with Member. This block is a decorative placeholder so the page layout is visible without exposing restricted text. Sign in or subscribe to Member to read the complete decision. The panel considered the record, the applicable statutes, and the arguments of the parties. Member is $25/month or $250/year and includes the weekly email digest, full case search, and bookmarks.