LAUSR

Medicolegal assessments of claimants with chronic muskuloskeletal pain conditions are frequent. The first German guideline published in 2005 for the medicolegal assessment of claimants in chronic pain is now available in its 4th version (AWMF register number 094 - 003). It gives recommendations for the procedure and serves to ensure the quality of expert opinions when complaints about chronic pain are the leading symptom. In the current version, the indications for ordering medical assessments in pain syndromes have been reformulated, the assessment criteria have been adapted to ICF specifications, and an unequivocal distinction has been introduced between questions of state and causal assessment. A separate chapter on symptom validity assessment has been engrafted.