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Snyder General Corp. v. Fridley12/12/2000
MEMORANDUM OPINION *
FROM THE VIRGINIA WORKERS' COMPENSATION COMMISSION
Snyder General Corporation and Transportation Insurance Company appeal from a decision of the Virginia Workers' Compensation Commission awarding medical benefits to Judith Lynn Fridley. Specifically, Snyder argues that the commission erred in finding that Fridley proved a causal relationship between her 1990 injury and her recent medical treatment.
Fridley was hired by Snyder in January of 1989 as a general assembler. By October of 1990, Fridley was working on the paint line. Her duties required her to stand and hang panels on hooks attached to a conveyor line, which took the panels to a paint booth.
On October 4, 1990, Fridley was hanging a panel on the line, with her right hand above her shoulder and her left hand on the panel. Her right hand slipped, causing the panel to fall forward and jerk her body forward. She immediately felt pain in her low back. She continued to work until October 9, 1990 when she sought medical treatment and was taken off work by her physician until December 17, 1990.
Fridley filed her claim for benefits in February of 1991, and the injury was accepted as compensable by Snyder. Fridley alleges that she still suffers from the 1990 injury and requested a hearing in 1998 to demand continuation of benefits for that injury.
During the hearing, Snyder argued that Fridley could not establish the necessary causation between her 1990 accident and the back pain she was currently suffering. Specifically, Snyder argued that Fridley failed to inform several of her treating physicians of her history of back injury prior to 1990. Prior to the 1990 injury, Fridley had presented to physicians as a result of at least four separate instances of pain/injury to her back. These instances included injuries to her lower back. Because of this misinformation, some of Fridley's physicians opined that her injury in 1990 was caused by the 1990 accident, while others did not.
Snyder also presented evidence that Fridley had incurred several injuries to her back in the years following the 1990 accident. Snyder argued that these injuries interrupted the chain of causation between the 1990 injury and Fridley's current problems.
Fridley underwent an independent medical examination on January 5, 1999. The examination was performed by Dr. George Godette. After examining Fridley and reviewing all of her pertinent medical history, Dr. Godette diagnosed Fridley with a left SI joint dsyfunction and stated the following with regard to causation:
If it is assumed that the patient had no pre- existing disease, then certainly the mechanism of the injury of the accident of October 9, 1990 could trigger symptoms such as the patient presently exhibits. Usually, an SI problem with appropriate treatment resolves in three to four months (six months at the longest). . . . [The injuries Fridley suffered since 1990] could certainly have extended the period of time that the patient would have SI joint symptoms . . . . For this reason, it is my medical opinion that it is very unlikely to a degree of medical certainty, any causality between the injury of October 9, 1990 and the patient's present symptoms could be firmly established. (Footnote added).
In response, Dr. Bart W. Balint, a physician with the Shenandoah Valley Pain Clinic where Fridley had been seeking treatment since 1994, wrote a letter disagreeing with Dr. Godette's diagnosis of SI joint dysfunction. Dr. Balint had also examined Fridley and reviewed her medical history. He stated the following:
While Ms. Fridley has pain to palpitation over the superior
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