This page was last modified on Sunday, August 08, 2010 06:21 PM
Dr. Ira Fishman, a California licensed QME, is available in his Albany office located in the San Francisco East Bay for medical legal analysis of all industrial issues concerning internal medicine and related disease states. Areas of particular interest include derivative internal medicine injuries when there is an intersection with other industrial traumatic, orthopedic, neurologic, urologic and toxic injuries. In the past, infectious disease industrial cases concerning HIV, hepatitis B, C, MRSA & coccidioidomycosis infections have been thoroughly analyzed. By system default, apparently due to lack of surgical evaluators, hernia cases are also routinely evaluated and rated..
Dr. Fishman has lectured to the California Bar, Workers' Compensation Section in Northern California regarding functional somatic syndromes such as fibromyalgia, irritable bowl syndrome and chronic fatigue syndrome. At California Applicant Attorneys Association membership meetings, Dr. Fishman has previously lectured on a variety of internal medicine topics including: the impact of emotional stress on internal medicine disease states, how to rate permanent internal medicine impairments utilizing the AMA Guides, 5th edition, how to treat prescription drug abuse and rate derivative narcotic and NSAID side effects. Dr. Fishman now routinely considers the impact of the Almaraz II decision on permanent impairment ratings. At the 2009 CAAA summer meeting, Dr. Fishman was an ad hoc panel member for a discussion of total disability.
Over the past 10 years, Dr. Fishman has written numerous medical legal reports about the cancer presumption for public safety officers contained in California Labor Code Section 3212.1. His opinions have been carefully scrutinized in key legal decisions regarding this statute such as the Faust case (Law case cited regarding latency) and the Darling case regarding anti-attribution and determining the first appearance of overt clinical symptoms in a cancer presumption case. There has been careful analysis of blood borne pathogen disease in both public safety officers and health workers. The Doke case has been cited in Herlick's textbook regarding ancillary treatment of hepatitis C in an orthopedic industrial injury.
Previously the medical director of a hospital based diabetes program in Monterey, CA, Dr. Fishman has a special interest in diabetes that either occurs while an individual is still employed or is associated with the consequences of other industrial injuries. Many of his medical legal reports have discussed diabetic industrial issues including: the impact of weight gain, physical inactivity, chronic pain, narcotic use, oral steroid use, epidural steroid injections and depression on the management and progression of diabetes. The natural history of non-industrial diabetes is well understood for assessing its impact on the apportionment of diabetic permanent impairment.
Dr. Fishman is available to discuss general internal medicine topics and answer questions from the applicant and defense bar, WC judges, SCIF and other insurance carriers regarding industrial causation of injury, apportionment, internal medicine impairment ratings, future medical care, cause of death, fitness duty. Of course after the parties have actually chosen one expert for a given industrial case, ex parte oral communication concerning that case is then strictly forbidden per California Labor Code statute.
When necessary, in lieu of a written report, medical records can be reviewed followed by a phone conference to discuss aspects of industrial causation and factors of disability. Phone conferencing between Dr. Fishman and the parties is encouraged as an effective method for resolving factual disputes and other medical legal disputes.
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