If a physician did not perform a required exam or prepare the report, what is the proper course of action?

• A. Object to the report as inadmissible
• B. Contact the physician’s office and negotiate
• C. Report the physician to the WCAB
• D. Report the physician to the Fraud Bureau

Answer: (A)

In workers’ compensation proceedings, medical evidence must come from an actual examination that was performed and a report prepared under the required procedures. If a physician did not conduct the required exam or fail to prepare the report, that medical document isn’t reliable evidence for admission. The proper action is to object to the report as inadmissible, so the record isn’t built on incomplete or noncompliant evidence.

Negotiating with the physician’s office doesn’t address the formal requirement for admissible medical evidence. Reporting to the WCAB or to a Fraud Bureau is appropriate for misconduct or fraud, not as a first-step remedy for a missing exam or unprepared report. If needed, seek a properly conducted exam and a compliant report to replace the deficient one, but the immediate course in the record is to object to the inadmissible report.