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City of Henderson Fire Department v. Stone5/30/2003
rmining whether a physician's calculation of impairment is valid upon an independent review of the AMA Guides. See Newberg v. Garrett, 858 S.W.2d 181 (1993); Wright v. Hopgood Mining, Ky., 832 S.W.2d 884 (1992); Watkins v. Ampak Mining Co., Ky. App. 834 S.W.2d 699 (1992). Accordingly, the ALJ cannot independently calculate an impairment rating or recalculate the rating of a particular physician in order to arrive at a new disability rating.
Here, the ALJ did not recalculate any disability rating Dr. Goldman assigned to Stone. Rather, the ALJ accepted Dr. Goldman's whole body assessment rating and conducted his own review of the AMA Guides to determine only if Dr. Goldman's assessment of a 5% pre-existing active disability corresponded with the accepted methods of determining a worker's impairment rating. This review by the ALJ is proper since the evidence herein provided no indication of any prior, specific injuries to Stone's back. In fact, Dr. Goldman's assessment rating was subject to further scrutiny after the ALJ found that Stone's prior back condition appeared gradually and was not caused by a specific injury . At this point, the ALJ reviewed the AMA Guides and determined that Dr. Goldman used the DRE method instead of the preferred range of motion method to determine Stone's pre existing impairment rating. No court in this Commonwealth has ruled that an ALJ is denied this much authority. Simply because the application of the AMA Guides is medical in nature does not prevent an ALJ from reviewing the AMA Guides to ensure that a physician used the correct method to assess a worker's disability rating. To rule otherwise not only defies common sense, but strips the ALJ of his authority to determine the weight and credibility to be accorded to any physician's testimony concerning a disability impairment rating. Thus, we believe the ALJ properly rejected Dr. Goldman's assessment of Stone's pre-existing active impairment.
The judgment of the Workers' Compensation Board is affirmed.
ALL CONCUR.
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