Daniel Eicholtz v. RAE Builders, LLC

Summary

The Tennessee Court of Workers’ Compensation Claims granted Daniel Eicholtz’s request for a panel of psychiatrists to evaluate and treat psychiatric symptoms allegedly related to his work injury. The court held that an authorized physician’s referral for psychiatric care triggered the statutory presumption of medical necessity, even though the physician did not offer an opinion on causation. The order directed RAE Builders to submit a psychiatrist panel and set a scheduling hearing.

Holdings

1. An authorized treating physician's referral for psychiatric care is sufficient at the expedited-hearing stage to require the employer to offer a panel of psychiatrists; the physician need not also opine that the employee's psychological condition was causally related to the work injury.
2. To obtain the requested psychiatric treatment through an expedited hearing, the employee must show a likelihood of prevailing at a hearing on the merits.

Questions Presented

1. Whether an authorized treating physician's referral for psychiatric care is sufficient to require the employer to provide a panel of psychiatrists when the physician does not opine that the employee's psychological condition was caused by the work injury.
2. Whether the statutory presumption that treatment recommended by an authorized physician is medically necessary applies at the expedited-hearing stage.

Disposition

other