Ophthalmology Expert Witness · QME · AME · IME — Nationwide Consultation Office 909-981-9800
Evaluations

QME, AME and IME Services

Marc H. Shomer, MD, PhD, QME is an active California Qualified Medical Evaluator, available for QME evaluations, as an Agreed Medical Evaluator when selected by the parties, and for independent medical examinations nationwide by arrangement.

California Workers' Compensation

The QME designation is a specific state credential issued by the California Division of Workers' Compensation, distinct from ordinary expert-witness qualification.

California QME

A California QME ophthalmologist is a board-certified ophthalmologist who has been appointed by the Administrative Director of the California Division of Workers' Compensation (DWC) as a Qualified Medical Evaluator, and who performs…

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Ophthalmology QME

An ophthalmology QME evaluation is a medical-legal examination of a disputed eye or vision claim in the California workers' compensation system, performed by a state-appointed Qualified Medical Evaluator and culminating in a written…

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Eye Injury QME

An eye injury QME evaluation is a medical-legal examination of a work-related eye injury by a California Qualified Medical Evaluator in ophthalmology, addressing what was injured, what impairment remains, and how much of it the…

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Agreed Medical Evaluator

An Agreed Medical Evaluator (AME) is a physician that both sides of a represented California workers' compensation case — the applicant's attorney and the defense — jointly agree to use for the medical-legal evaluation,…

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Workers' Comp Eye Injury

A workers' compensation eye injury is an injury to the eye or visual system arising out of and in the course of employment — from momentary corneal foreign bodies to open-globe trauma with permanent vision loss — handled…

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Independent Examinations

Ophthalmology IME

An ophthalmology IME is an independent medical examination of an eye or vision claim by an ophthalmologist who has no treatment relationship with the examinee, producing an objective evaluation for use in personal injury litigation,…

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What Is an IME

An independent medical examination (IME) is an evaluation performed by a physician who has no treatment relationship with the person being examined, requested by a party other than the examinee — typically an insurer, attorney,…

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Nevada IME

Marc H. Shomer, MD, PhD, QME performs in-person ophthalmology independent medical examinations in Nevada, where he is a licensed physician, for personal injury, disability, and liability matters involving eye injury or vision loss.

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Impairment, Apportionment and Future Care

Permanent & Stationary

Permanent and stationary (P&S) — the workers' compensation equivalent of maximal medical improvement (MMI) — means a condition has stabilized: it is neither expected to improve materially with further treatment nor to…

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Apportionment

Apportionment is the legally required division of an injured worker's permanent disability between industrial causation and other contributing causes. Under Labor Code §§4663 and 4664, a California medical-legal evaluator must…

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Vision Impairment Rating

Whole person impairment (WPI) for vision loss is calculated under the visual system chapter of the AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment, 5th Edition — the edition California workers' compensation uses — by…

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Future Medical Care

Future medical care in an eye injury claim is the treatment reasonably required, after the condition becomes permanent and stationary, to cure or relieve the effects of the injury going forward — medications, surveillance…

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Frequently Asked Questions

QME FAQs

These are the questions attorneys, adjusters, and injured workers most often ask about the Qualified Medical Evaluator process in California workers' compensation, answered from the evaluator's side of the table. The answers explain…

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IME FAQs

These are the questions most commonly asked about independent medical examinations in ophthalmology — by the attorneys and claims professionals who request them and by the examinees preparing to attend one. The answers describe…

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Request a Conflict Check and Case Review

Submit the matter for conflict screening. Please do not send medical records or protected health information until conflicts are cleared and secure transfer instructions are provided.