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Brady Memorial Home v. Hantke6/23/1999
Brady Memorial Home v. Hantke, 1999 SD 77
SOUTH DAKOTA SUPREME COURT
Brady Memorial Home v. Hantke, 1999 SD 77
South Dakota Supreme Court Appeal from the Fourth Judicial Circuit, Davison County, SD Hon. Boyd L. McMurchie, Judge
Reversed
Considered on Briefs Jun 1, 1999; Opinion Filed Jun 23, 1999
[ ] In this appeal we hold that a worker's compensation claimant failed to establish that her employment was a major contributing cause of her injury . The South Dakota Department of Labor originally denied Irene Hantke's claim for workers' compensation benefits. The circuit court reversed Department's decision and Brady Memorial Home and its insurer, Presentation Sisters Workers' Compensation Trust (collectively referred to as Brady Home), appeal. We reverse.
FACTS
[ ] On March 21, 1996, while working as a registered nurse at Brady Home, Hantke experienced back pain when she bent to retrieve a jar of medication from the bottom of a medicine cart. She continued to work the remainder of her shift even though she was experiencing discomfort. Later, at approximately 3:00 a.m., she was awakened by what she described as searing pain in her back, which caused her to seek treatment that morning at the emergency room of the local hospital. The emergency room X-rays showed a lumbosacral degenerative disc and facet changes in her back.
[ ] Following her emergency room visit, she began treating her condition with her family physician, Dr. Martin Christensen, who diagnosed her condition as a lumbosacral strain with a possible herniated disc. Hantke underwent an MRI test, which Dr. Christensen believed showed degenerative changes at two lower lumbar levels and broad-based disc herniation at the L4-5 and L5-S1 levels.
[ ] Hantke also submitted to two independent medical examinations. On June 18, 1996, Dr. John Dowdle, a certified orthopedic surgeon, examined her and diagnosed her as having mechanical low back pain, degenerative disc changes at L4-5 and L5-S1, and sacroiliac joint inflammation on the right side. Eight days later, Dr. Quentin Durward, a licensed neurosurgeon, examined Hantke and determined that she had a right-sided disc herniation and trochanteric bursitis. Prior to making their diagnoses, both doctors obtained a medical history from Hantke and reviewed her X-ray and MRI films.
[ ] Hantke continued to consult with Dr. Christensen, who indicated in his June 19, 1996 records that the herniated disc had been resolved and that her condition continued to improve. Even when Hantke reinjured her back in March 1997, Dr. Christensen's records indicate that, by the time of her return visit on April 28, Hantke had returned to work at Brady Home and that her condition continued to improve.
[ ] However, while at home on or about May 10, 1997, Hantke again injured her back. She claims that when she shifted her weight while standing at the kitchen sink she experienced severe pain, which she likened to being hit in the back with a hammer. She contacted Dr. Christensen, who referred her to an orthopedic surgeon. On May 19 the surgeon performed a microdiscetomy at L5-S1.
[ ] Brady Home paid temporary workers' compensation benefits to Hantke for the March 21, 1996 incident. However, it denied liability for the May 10, 1997 incident and the subsequent surgery for her herniated disc. When Brady Home petitioned Department regarding Hantke's benefit claim, Department found that, because Hantke failed to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that her employment was a major contributing cause of her herniation, her injury was not compensable. Hantke appealed Depar
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