Stephen Kaneshiro.
Home health aide Shu-Ying Xu was injured on the job while trying to keep a patient from falling. The injury caused such debilitating pain the Social Security Administration considered her “totally disabled.” Still, Ms. Xu’s workers’ compensation insurer had her undergo an independent medical examination (“IME”) to review her injury, and sent her to Dr. Wayne Kerness. Dr. Kerness did not ask her any questions, completing the exam in two minutes. His report said Ms. Xu could resume working because her disability was only mild. His report also claimed she spoke English (which she did not), and she took no medications (while she took nine). When confronted by these discrepancies, Dr. Kerness admitted only that he erroneously reported Ms. Xu’s English capabilities and affirmed the rest.