Theresa Rocha — ADJ11672907

Applicant Theresa Rocha, a McDonald's cashier, sustained an accepted industrial injury to her right ankle and foot and later filed a Petition to Reopen for new and further disability, adding a psyche claim. The orthopedic AME, Dr. Feinberg, diagnosed CRPS, recommended psychiatric treatment and evaluation, and deferred to a psyche evaluator on questions of off-task time. After the WCJ denied a psyche panel and denied liability for the applicant's vocational expert report, the Board on reconsideration found good cause for an additional psyche QME panel and held defendant liable for the vocational expert costs, deferring the psyche injury and reopening issues. Defendant's subsequent Petition for Reconsideration argued unreasonable delay/due process violation, laches, lack of substantial evidence for the QME panel order, and that the vocational report was not reasonable or necessary. The Board denied the Petition, finding its decisions timely under section 5909, no due process violation, laches unproven, substantial evidence supporting the need to develop the psyche record, and the vocational report reasonably and necessarily incurred.