Salazar, Juan

Applicant Juan Salazar filed petitions to strike the QME reporting of orthopedist Dr. Clayton Patchett, alleging the reports were not substantial medical evidence due to an incorrect causation standard and improper range of motion measurements. The WCJ instead struck Dr. Patchett's reports as inadmissible under Labor Code section 4628, finding deficiencies in record review and undisclosed third-party measurements, and ordered additional QME panels in neurology and internal medicine, plus a job analysis and echocardiogram. The Board, treating defendant's removal petition under the removal standard, found that the WCJ violated due process because neither the parties nor Dr. Patchett received notice that section 4628 compliance would be determined or relied upon to strike the reports. The Board held that a QME, as a 'party in interest' and potential lien claimant, is entitled to notice and an opportunity to be heard and to cure 4628 deficiencies before a report is found inadmissible. The Board rescinded the entire F&O and remanded for further proceedings, while concurring there was an evidentiary basis for the neurology panel and agreeing the internal medicine replacement panel order was an inadvertent error.