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Lawrence Saldana — ADJ4050214

LAWRENCE SALDANA, Applicant vs. CA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS AND REHABILITATION, legally uninsured, adjusted by STATE COMPENSATION INSURANCE FUND, Defendants

ADJ number
ADJ4050214
Decision date
Jun 17, 2021
District office
Van Nuys
WCJ
Shiloh Rasmusson
Claim administrator
State Compensation Insurance Fund
Commissioners
—

Injury / body parts: neck, bilateral elbows, bilateral shoulders, lumbar spine, psyche/nervous system, sleep disorder, arousal disorder, wrists (claimed), gastritis (claimed), fatigue (claimed), erectile dysfunction (claimed)

LC §4660

Summary

Applicant Lawrence Saldana, a State Parole Agent, sustained multiple injuries in 2004-2005, including to the neck, spine, psyche, and a sleep/arousal disorder, and was found permanently and totally disabled. The internal medicine AME, Dr. Timothy Reynolds, diagnosed industrial fibromyalgia (a condition not addressed in the AMA Guides) and rated its fatigue component by analogy to a Class 2 sleep and arousal disorder, assigning 20% WPI. Defendant petitioned for reconsideration, arguing the sleep impairment could not constitute substantial medical evidence absent confirming polysomnography. The WCAB adopted the WCJ's report and denied reconsideration, holding that an evaluator may use clinical judgment to rate conditions by analogy under Guzman, and that 15 years of consistent multi-specialty medical-legal reporting of sleep dysfunction supplied substantial evidence even without a formal sleep study.

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