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Jensen v. City of Pocatello12/15/2000
nd returning home his condition continued to deteriorate. The referee heard Jensen's explanation that from the time he took the Pain-Off, until he was diagnosed with renal failure, he never recovered. He stated he could not keep anything down, and did not urinate until Saturday. This testimony provided the referee with some evidence of a causal link between the ingestion of Pain-Off and the renal failure.
Additionally, the referee heard "expert" evidence, in the form of deposition testimony, that Jensen's treating physician considered the ingestion of the Pain-Off to be "at the top of that list of my speculation," as to the cause of the renal failure.
Therefore, while perhaps the evidence does not overwhelmingly establish a definite causal link between the Pain-Off ingestion and Jensen's renal failure, it does provide substantial and competent evidence to support the referee's finding of fact number 37. Since this Court's review is limited to a determination of whether the Industrial Commission's decision is supported by substantial and competent evidence, this Court holds that the Industrial Commission did not err in its findings.
B. Jensen's Reaction To The Pain-Off Was An "Industrial Accident" Within The Definition Provided In The Workers' Compensation Act.
Jensen contends that the Industrial Commission correctly determined that his ingestion of medication at work was an "industrial accident" as contemplated by the Workers' Compensation Act. The City, on the other hand, maintains that the ingestion of medication is not an "industrial accident" within the express definition provided in Section 72-102(17) of the Idaho Code.
The Idaho Code defines an accident as "an unexpected, undesigned, and unlooked for mishap, or untoward event, connected with the industry in which it occurs, and which can be reasonably located as to time when and place where it occurred, causing an injury ." I.C. § 72- 102(17)(b). The City argues that Jensen's injury does not fit within this definition because "there was no precipitating event or mishap" giving rise to the injury.
While this Court has not directly addressed the issue of whether a toxic reaction to medication given an employee by an employer is an industrial accident, there are cases that provide some guidance. In Combes v. State, Industrial Special Indemnity Fund, 130 Idaho 430, 942 P.2d 554 (1997), this Court discussed the nature of an "accident" under I.C. § 72-102(17)(b). In that case, the Industrial Commission had determined that Combes had sustained an accident when he developed asthma symptoms while working heavy equipment on a dusty job site. Combes, 130 Idaho at 431, 942 P.2d at 555. On appeal this Court determined that the Industrial Commission's conclusion that "Claimant's exposure to dust, grasses, mold, animal danders and pollens in the three to six months prior to November 1992" did not fit within the definition of accident under the Idaho Code. The Court quoted from a previous opinion that "Nelson did not provide any medical evidence connecting the aggravation of her carpal tunnel syndrome to 'an unexpected, undesigned, and unlooked for mishap, or untoward event, reasonably identifiable as to the time when the place where it occurred.'" Id. at 433, 942 P.2d at 557 (quoting Langley v. Industrial Spec. Indem. Fund, 126 Idaho 781, 785-86, 890 P.2d 732, 736-37 (1995)).
In the present case, it is undisputed that Jensen ingested Pain-Off minutes before the onset of severe abdominal cramping and back pain. Jensen's supervisor provided the medication and thought that Jensen's reaction warranted taking him to the hospital. The treating physician in the emergency room diagnosed Jensen
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