Psych and six month rule on employment (California)

[compquest]

SCENARIO:

1. Three months on the job. Generic orthopedic back injury while lifting a box at work. Accepted back injury.

2. Applicant goes out on TTD for 8 months and continuing .

3. Applicant never returns to work for the employer. However, applicant was not officially terminated from the job. Subsequently applicant files a secondary consequence ( pain from orthopedic injury) psych claim.

QUESTION:

Would applicant establish the 6 month rule on employment ( 2 months working and 8 months TTD) for secondary consequence psych cases ?

[stevepsca]

Why file the psych claim ?
Have the PTP refer to pain management, ACOEM chpater 6 "chronic pain", or under the new MTUS pain mgt treatment guides. http://www.dir.ca.gov/dwc/DWCPropRegs/M ... elines.pdf
Psych counseling in pain management will/should be offered.

You don't trigger the 90 days investigation period by filing a compensable consequence. You already have AOE/COE on the org injury/claim. May/may not trigger 4062.
AMA guides address 'pain' when comes time for rating to PD/WPI.

Or, are you looking for rating to 'mental impairment' under a psych injury/claim.

[jakelast@aol.com]

The short answer to your question is the case you describe does not qualify for a claim for psychiatric injury. It requires 6 months of actual work to qualify for a compensable consequence of a psychiatric injury.

If time on the books as an employee was counted toward the 6 months, the limitation would be meaningless since employers do not terminate employees after an injury while on TTD.