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Hurley v. PDQ Transport5/10/2000
Appeal from the District Court of Laramie County Honorable Nicholas G. Kalokathis, Judge
Appellant Shela Hurley appeals the denial of worker 's compensation benefits by the Medical Commission following its determination that her 1997 back surgery was not causally connected to her 1991 work-related injuries to her neck and head.
We affirm.
ISSUES
The statement of the issue on appeal is:
Whether the Medical Commission's Finding of Fact, Conclusions of Law and Order that Appellant did not meet her burden by a preponderance of the evidence was arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, not in accordance with the law, unsupported by substantial evidence and contrary to the weight of the evidence.
FACTS
On April 8, 1991, Hurley jumped up and hit her head on the bucket of a backhoe placed above her. She suffered a closed head injury and injured her neck and received worker 's compensation benefits for chiropractic treatment and disability. Her chiropractic treatments included cervical, thoracic, and lumbar adjustments. During 1991 and 1992, Hurley was seen by an orthopedic surgeon, a neurologist, and a neurosurgeon without complaint of lower back pain. Chiropractic notes from July of 1992, however, recorded lumbar muscle spasm and adjustment. On September 21, 1992, Hurley's impairment evaluation was conducted and no mention of lower back pain was made. X-rays of the cervical spine showed no abnormalities, and an MRI of the head and neck showed no abnormalities; however, the evaluation concluded that the medically documented injury and its associated pain and rigidity warranted a 4% permanent partial disability award for the impairment of the neck/back.
In 1993, an additional evaluation by a neurosurgeon for back pain in her left upper extremity deemed Hurley eligible for an additional 2.5% permanent partial disability award for impairment of her back. Later in 1993, Hurley underwent examinations by a neuropsychologist and a physical medicine physician without mention of low back pain or lower back injury. In January of 1996, her chiropractor, Dr. Sweet, submitted a letter to the Workers' Compensation Division (Division) opining that Hurley had L4-5 and L5-S1 biomechanical lesions on August 3, 1995, and referring to an MRI dated September, 1996, indicating abnormalities in this region. Dr. Sweet provided cervical and lumbar spine treatments in March, April, and September, 1996.
In June of 1996, Hurley suffered domestic violence injuries caused by her husband and was seen by emergency room physicians. She reported that she had been hit in the jaw and chest by his fist and had hit him with her right hand. She complained of pain in her chest and her right hand but denied teeth or neck pain. An examination indicated "mild tenderness along the lumbar region of the back without any spasm." Her hand was wrapped and she was instructed to apply ice to her chest and hand. No treatment was provided for her back. On September 30, 1996, Hurley received physical therapy for a back and neck injury she stated that she had received in a domestic violence incident in June of 1996. She reported that she began to notice symptoms including low back pain three weeks earlier, and her past medical history on that date was reported as including:
serious neck and closed head injury in 1991, after which time underwent extensive therapy between 1991 and 1993. reports that she was released to her work . . . in 12/93 and was doing well until the domestic violence incident in 6/96.
Hurley was seen again on December 23, 1996, for low back pain and again attributed it to the domestic violence incid
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