Workers’ Compensation · Primary-source case analysis

Simi: Pre-2005 QME Procedures Survived Senate Bill 899

By Aneeta Mishra and Timothy Chan

Published September 13, 2026

Simi v. Sav-Max Foods resolved whether Senate Bill 899 left represented workers with pre-2005 injuries without a procedure for obtaining medical-legal evaluations.

The judge ordered a defense QME

A workers’ compensation judge directed the represented applicant to attend a defense qualified medical examination and warned that benefits and proceedings could be suspended if she failed to appear. The applicant argued that statutory amendments had eliminated authority for the procedure.

The Board avoided a procedural vacuum

The WCAB read Senate Bill 899’s transition provisions and concluded that former section 4062 remained operative for injuries occurring before January 1, 2005. Otherwise, represented parties in older cases would lack a workable AME and QME process.

The defense examination was authorized

For a pre-2005 injury, the earlier section 4062 procedure continued to govern represented employees. The defendant was therefore entitled to proceed with the selected QME examination.

The suspension warning was removed

The Board affirmed the attendance order but struck language prospectively suspending benefits or the right to proceed. Any later consequence for nonattendance required the procedure and findings authorized by law rather than an automatic advance sanction.

Key takeaways

• Identify the injury date before choosing the medical-legal procedure.
• Apply the transition rule governing represented employees.
• Use a valid order to compel an authorized examination.
• Do not impose prospective suspension without the required process.