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Hurley v. PDQ Transport5/10/2000
987 P.2d at 693.
Hurley argues that the Medical Commission's conclusion that she failed to prove by a preponderance of the evidence a causal relationship ignores Dr. Walker's independent medical examination and conclusions. She claims that Dr. Walker's evidence satisfied her burden of proof by a preponderance of the evidence and the Commission's conclusion is arbitrary and capricious. The issue before the Medical Commission was whether her lumbar disk disease was caused by the 1991 work-related injury. Causal connection is a question of fact. The task of determining the credibility of the witnesses and weighing the evidence is assigned to the Medical Commission, and its determination will be overturned only if it is clearly contrary to the great weight of the evidence. Helm v. State ex rel. Wyo. Workers' Safety and Comp. Div., 982 P.2d 1236, 1237 (Wyo. 1999).
In its findings of fact, the Commission stated:
Dr. Walker's evaluation relies heavily on the history provided by Ms. Hurley and assumptions made about the reasons for prior chiropractic low back adjustments. Most of the documentation of low back complaints is derived from chiropractic reports. We note low back adjustments may be considered routine chiropractic care in some instances.
We find the mechanism of Ms. Hurley's 1991 work-related injury is not consistent with low back pain or the need for a partial laminectomy and diskectomies at L4-L5 some six years later. We do not find chiropractic adjustments of the lumbar spine to be objective medical evidence of low back injury at the time of her industrial accident. Ms. Hurley makes no mention of back pain to Drs. Crane, Metz, MacGuire and Schafer and by her own report, suffered chronic low back pain following a domestic violence incident in June, 1996. We agree with Dr. Weiner, Ms. Hurley's low back condition was most likely the result of the natural progression of her degenerative disk disease, aggravated by domestic violence and is not compensable under the Wyoming Workers' Compensation Act.
The Commission's statement shows that it did not ignore Dr. Walker's report and conclusions; it fully considered the evidence, but found the report unreliable for the reasons stated. The Commission concluded that the history Hurley provided to Dr. Walker was contradicted by Hurley's own statements during other examinations and the 1996 MRI, and this conclusion is supported by the evidence. The Commission also determined that the chiropractic diagnosis and treatment was not objective evidence that she injured her back in her work-related accident. Because Dr. Walker based his conclusion on the chiropractic treatments and notes, the Commission gave his report no weight in their consideration of the evidence. The role of the Medical Commission is to resolve medically contested issues through the professional expertise of health care providers. See Snyder v. State ex rel. Wyo. Workers' Comp. Div., 957 P.2d 289, 295 (Wyo. 1998). The Commission's role includes determining the weight to be given to medical opinion testimony, and will not be reweighed upon review. Contrary to Hurley's assertions, the Medical Commission is not legally obligated to accept the findings of an impartial, appointed independent medical examiner if, in their expertise, the Commission determines the factual basis for the report and conclusion is not credible or reliable.
The order denying benefits is affirmed.
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