Congratulations to Paul Zayat of the El Segundo office on obtaining an order of dismissal on a disputed lung cancer case! The applicant is an 11 year chemical handler at a packing services company who claimed her stage 4 lung cancer was work related. The claim was initially denied as there was no medical evidence to suggest her illness was work related. A Labor Code 4060 panel QME evaluation was obtained in internal/pulmonary who found the cancer to be non-industrial. Applicant’s counsel sent the applicant to a treater on a lien basis who found the lung cancer was in fact industrial. Paul quickly moved for an AOE/COE priority conference but applicant’s counsel objected, requesting Material Safety Data Sheet information from the employer. This proceeding was then continued for further discovery and Paul obtained the requested data. Paul ultimately was able to convince Applicant and Applicant’s counsel that the MSDS would not lead to a finding the cancer was work related and that the PQME report was qualitatively superior to the PTP report. Ultimately the applicant relented and dismissed her case.
At issue, should the PTP report have prevailed at trial, was 2 years of TTD, medical care, permanent disability and future medical care related to lung cancer.
Amazing result Paul!