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Jensen v. City of Pocatello12/15/2000
since Thursday afternoon, and noticed that his urine was black.
Jensen returned to the emergency room and was seen this time by Dr. Richard Hearn. Jensen was unable to urinate and the hospital staff was unable to get a urine sample even with a catheter. Urine output was barely increased by three liters of fluid given to Jensen intravenously. The doctor determined that Jensen had suffered a total kidney shutdown. Jensen was treated with hemodialysis and steroids. The following day a device was surgically implanted into Jensen's chest to connect him to the dialysis machine.
Jensen was hospitalized from May 3 to May 9, 1997, with dialysis three days a week. He lost 20 pounds between May 3 and May 23, 1997, and suffered nausea and vomiting. After another course of steroids, Jensen's kidney function eventually returned. Jensen began to function without dialysis in June of 1997. On July 14, 1997, Jensen was released to return to work without restrictions. Jensen returned to work on July 18, 1997, but complained of severe fatigue.
Butch Chandler, the Sanitation Operation Supervisor, had discarded the remaining Pain-Off medication on May 1 st or 2 nd . It is undetermined in the record whether any Pain-Off tablets from the same box were preserved.
On December 23, 1997, Jensen filed a workers' compensation complaint with the Industrial Commission. The City of Pocatello and its surety the Idaho State Insurance Fund, (herein collectively the City) answered the complaint on January 8, 1998, denying that the injury resulted from a work-related accident.
On July 9, 1998, Jensen was examined by Dr. Nagraj Narasimhan at the request of the City. Dr. Narasimhan concluded that there was no causal connection between Jensen's ingestion of Pain- Off and his illness.
On September 3, 1998, a hearing was held before the Industrial Commission's referee. At the hearing, Jensen, his wife, Malm and Chandler all testified. The deposition of Dr. Hearn was taken on September 9, 1998, and that of Dr. Narasimhan was taken on September 15, 1998. Both depositions were submitted to the referee that same month.
The referee filed his Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law and Recommendation on April 19, 1999. The referee concluded that although Jensen had proven that his "medical reaction causally related to his work," Jensen had "failed to establish his renal failure causally related to his work." In his findings, the referee first considered that testimony of the City's expert Dr. Narasimhan. After discussing the many alternative theories for Jensen's illness produced by Dr. Narasimhan, the referee concluded that "Defendants' alternate causation theories are unpersuasive."
The referee then discussed the testimony of Dr. Hearn. Dr. Hearn testified that "In the list of my speculation of what might have caused the renal failure, then [the Pain-Off] would be at the top of that list of my speculation. I don't know of anything that would be higher, but I have no evidence to support that it was the cause." However, Dr. Hearn testified that because chemical testing of the Pain-Off was impossible (because it had been destroyed by Chandler) he was not able to determine to a reasonable degree of medical probability that the Pain-Off had caused Jensen's renal failure.
The referee concluded:
The non-expert evidence and much of the expert evidence herein indicate a causal relationship between Claimant's ingestion of Pain-Off at work and his renal failure. Defendants' alternate causation theories are unpersuasive. . . . nasmuch as Dr. Hearn repeatedly and expressly refused to opine to a reasonable degree of medical probability that
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