This was hard to listen to with the attorney thinking it is the AMA's job to argue that the AMA Guides shouldn't be used for disability award calculations, when the Guides clearly state this and clarify these are impairment ratings only, not for disability. This is a lawyer's job if there ever was one, especially for those who say they are the voice for the injured. Furthermore, for the attorney to suggest that a single physician's opinion without any objective standard or guideline was acceptable, but a set of guidelines based on a plethora of expert opinion/consensus wasn't an appropriate method. He obviously is angry that his profession is using one of the only nationally accepted methods of determining impairment and applying this to disability cases. Yet, the same attorneys usually are ok with total medical bills (damages) being the guideline for personal injury settlements (no where even close to an objective measure). I would have liked for the doctor to push back more and not be so timid on the obvious misclassifications the attorney continued to make. Maybe argue with someone who isn't as nice and ultra-professional as this doctor was.
This was hard to listen to with the attorney thinking it is the AMA's job to argue that the AMA Guides shouldn't be used for disability award calculations, when the Guides clearly state this and clarify these are impairment ratings only, not for disability. This is a lawyer's job if there ever was one, especially for those who say they are the voice for the injured. Furthermore, for the attorney to suggest that a single physician's opinion without any objective standard or guideline was acceptable, but a set of guidelines based on a plethora of expert opinion/consensus wasn't an appropriate method. He obviously is angry that his profession is using one of the only nationally accepted methods of determining impairment and applying this to disability cases. Yet, the same attorneys usually are ok with total medical bills (damages) being the guideline for personal injury settlements (no where even close to an objective measure). I would have liked for the doctor to push back more and not be so timid on the obvious misclassifications the attorney continued to make. Maybe argue with someone who isn't as nice and ultra-professional as this doctor was.