By Fred Lewis and George Casper
An FCE is a one or two day test where a Physical Therapist puts the injured worker through a series of lifting exercises in order to test his or her ability to exert force in any kind of way. The PT also has the injured worker stand, walk and sit. Based on the results of this testing the PT then gives lifting restrictions, stating how much the injured worker can lift frequently, occasionally, and rarely. The PT also determines how long the injured worker can comfortably sit, squat, handle objects, or use fingers for tasks such as typing. The PT then compiles all of this data and creates a report listing all of the restrictions. The injured worker’s attorney then sends copies of the evaluation to the medical practitioner/s that gave the injured worker his or her impairment rating. The doctor then determines if the restrictions are reasonable and if so adopts these restrictions as the injured workers’ permanent restrictions. These restrictions then become the bedrock medical opinion that drives the disability case.
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