Commonwealth Court Upholds Employer's Medical Expert Must Recognize Formal Description of Work Injury
In Denise Elberson v. WCAB (Elwyn, Inc.), the Commonwealth Court held that an employer's medical expert must recognize the formal description of the work injury and opine that the claimant has fully recovered in order for the employer to be successful in terminating a claimant's benefits.
In the case, the employer's medical expert testified that he thought the claimant's work injury was a strain or sprain of the back. However, a lumbar disc herniation had been recognized through a Notice of Compensation Payable. The Court held that the medical expert's testimony was insufficient to support the employer's contention that the claimant had fully recovered. The Court wrote that "(a)t a bare minimum, the expert must know what the accepted work-related injury was to be competent to testify that a claimant has fully recovered from a work-related injury."
