In a very disappointing decision for employers and insurers issued on August 8, 2019, the Oregon Supreme Court held that the presence of a legally cognizable preexisting condition is no longer sufficient to apportion permanent impairment in the absence of combined condition processing. In Caren v. Providence Health System Oregon, [1] the injured worker sustained a…

Members of the Firm’s Bellevue office participated in Defeat Multiple Myeloma held June 23rd at Magnuson Park on beautiful Lake Washington in Seattle to support research and awareness for multiple myeloma cancer at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.  

Oregon House Bill 3022 recently passed the House and now awaits Senate action. HB 3022 proposes to amend ORS 656.245(1)(c) to make diagnostic services compensable if they are reasonable and necessary to identify the nature or extent of a medical condition that may be related to a work injury or occupational disease. The necessity of…

Leaving their capes and cowls at home (or did they?), attorneys in the Firm’s Washington practice joined claims administrators, employer representatives, service providers and members of the Washington State Department of Labor and Industry at the Washington Self-Insurers Association’s Annual Conference, held May 15 to 17, 2019, in Tacoma, Washington. This year’s event, dubbed “Superheroes…

Did you know that independent medical examiners face exposure in the State of Washington for medical malpractice and medical battery causes of action when doing an examination? Independent medical examiners beware—Division II of the Washington Court of Appeals recently concluded a physical examination during an independent medical examination that causes injury to the person being…