Jewell Ridge Coal Corp. v. Henderson

These are Workers’ Compensation cases. In each instance, the Industrial Commission of Virginia denied a request by the employer, Jewell Ridge Coal Corporation, for the referral to a peer review committee of the question whether certain periods of hospitalization of an injured employee were necessary.

Chapter 13 of Title 65.1 of the Code (§§ 65.1-153 to -163), entitled “Peer Review of Medical Costs,” provides for the establishment of regional committees, each composed of five physicians, to review “services rendered by physicians that are paid for in whole or in part pursuant to [Title 65.1].”…