Somebody get me a doctor: Nebraska rules against P.A reports in workers’ compensation

Posted on by

Somebody get me a shot! (Sorry no appropriate Diamond Dave images to go with this post)

The Nebraska Supreme Court held recently that a written reports from a Physician’s Assistant or P.A. are inadmissible into evidence under the Rule 10 of the Nebraska Workers’ Compensation Act.

The decision resolves what amounted to a “circuit split” among the seven judges of the Nebraka Workers’ Compensation Court as to whether P.A. reports were admissible into evidence.

The decision didn’t come as a shock to me or any of the other lawyers at this firm. The decision shouldn’t impact how we or any other lawyers develop evidence in Nebraska workers’ compensation cases.

But I believe the decision harms workers in rural areas whose only access to medical care is often a P.A. The decision also harms workers without health insurance whose only treatment for a work injury might be treating with a P.A. at an urgent care clinic. If an employer denies compensability, the only medical evidence that employee may have would be a report from a P.A.

Most lawyers “fix” P.A. reports by having the supervising doctor sign the report. I’ve had P.As take offense at that request. I’ve also had defense lawyers attack medical opinions on hearsay grounds by getting a medical doctor to admit that the P.A. is the one with first-hand knowledge about the injured worker.

Lawyers are stuck with two options if a P.A report is the sole source of expert opinion from a treating provider: 1) Call the P.A. live as a witness in the same manner as in a civil trial or 2) retain an examiner.

Neither of those is a great option. The best fix would be for the Legislature or the Nebraska Workers’ Compensation Court to amend Rule 10 to allow P.A reports into evidence.

The offices of Rehm, Bennett, Moore & Rehm, which also sponsors the Trucker Lawyers website, are located in Lincoln and Omaha, Nebraska. Five attorneys represent plaintiffs in workers’ compensation, personal injury, employment and Social Security disability claims. The firm’s lawyers have combined experience of more than 95 years of practice representing injured workers and truck drivers in Nebraska, Iowa and other states with Nebraska and Iowa jurisdiction. The lawyers regularly represent hurt truck drivers and often sue Crete Carrier Corporation, K&B Trucking, Werner Enterprises, UPS, and FedEx. Lawyers in the firm hold licenses in Nebraska and Iowa and are active in groups such as the College of Workers’ Compensation Lawyers, Workers' Injury Law & Advocacy Group (WILG), American Association for Justice (AAJ), the Nebraska Association of Trial Attorneys (NATA), and the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA). We have the knowledge, experience and toughness to win rightful compensation for people who have been injured or mistreated.

This entry was posted in Nebraska, Rule 10, Workers' Compensation and tagged , , .

One thought on “Somebody get me a doctor: Nebraska rules against P.A reports in workers’ compensation

  1. Pingback: Nebraska considers rule change to allow P.A. reports in workers compensation cases - Workers' Compensation Watch

Comments are closed.