The Court quashed a Medical Panel opinion assessing 0% work-related impairment, holding that the Panel committed jurisdictional error by failing to give genuine consideration to whether there was a causal connection between the accepted 2014 work injury and a subsequent October 2020 incident that led to surgery and 25% whole person impairment. The Panel's reasons were inadequate because they did not explain the path of reasoning for concluding the October 2020 injury was 'non-work related,' failed to address the worker's history of intermittent left leg symptoms since 2014, and did not consider whether the October 2020 incident occurred while the worker was exercising to manage symptoms of the accepted injury. The Court declined to determine whether the Panel erred in proceeding on the basis that the referral was not inclusive of the back surgery, leaving that question unresolved.
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