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Bollinger v. Coast to Coast Total Hardware2/17/2000
Between October 1993 and June 1994, Bollinger worked for Rocky Mountain Traffic Control where he regularly moved traffic-control barrels weighing seventy pounds. He never told his employers he had back pain. During this period, Bollinger testified, he never suffered job-related injuries but his back hurt in the morning and evening, especially when he had been on his feet all day. Bollinger testified that he treated himself with aspirin and ibuprofen and wore a back brace on the job but did not have the money or time to visit a doctor for back pain. On the two occasions that Bollinger sought emergency medical care in 1994, he did not mention back pain to the treating practitioner.
For the next half year, Bollinger worked as night manager of a pizza parlor in Pinedale. He moved to Missouri in February 1995 and worked at the Sonic Drive-In for four months. Bollinger testified that he did not have any job -related injuries but that his back would hurt when he stayed on his feet for a long time. He said that his lower back progressively got worse and he tried to alleviate the pain with stretching exercises, aspirin, and ibuprofen.
Bollinger testified that he returned to Pinedale in June 1995 "to figure out why I was having so much pain, why my legs were numb." He consulted with Pinedale chiropractor Andrew Nelson on June 8. Dr. Nelson took X-rays but did not treat Bollinger. Instead, he referred Bollinger to Kenneth Lambert, an orthopedist in Jackson, Wyoming. Dr. Lambert assessed Bollinger as having chronic lumbar and cervical strain during his first examination in July 1995. He ordered an MRI, which showed central disc protrusion at L5-S1 and degenerative disc change at L3-L4 and L5-S1.
After the MRI, Bollinger moved back to Missouri and took a job washing dishes. On October 7, 1995, when Bollinger grabbed a fifty-pound "tote" of dishes, he felt a pain in his back so sharp that he dropped the dishes. Bollinger did not file a worker 's compensation claim for this incident. The following day, he quit his job and returned to Wyoming. Six days later, Bollinger went to the emergency room of St. John's Hospital in Jackson, Wyoming, complaining of pain in his lower back and legs. In giving the medical history, Bollinger discussed the February 1993 back injury but not the previous week's incident.
Bollinger consulted Dr. Lambert again in late October. Dr. Lambert told him that surgery was not necessary but he needed an intense program of physical fitness, muscle strengthening, and dietary consultation. The doctor referred Bollinger to Susan M. Holz, a physical therapist in Pinedale. Bollinger underwent regular physical therapy for two months. By the end of this regime, he had lost weight, increased in strength, and decreased his lower back pain. In January 1996, Dr. Lambert noted that Bollinger no longer had significant complaints of pain. He diagnosed Bollinger's condition at that time as " ery mild cervical strain, resolving."
Orthopedist Richard Knoebel prepared an evaluation of Bollinger for Coast to Coast in February 1996. Dr. Knoebel characterized Bollinger's complaint as "subjective complaints" of "slight constant pains." Dr. Knoebel concluded that Bollinger's symptoms in 1995 "were not caused, contributed too , or permanently aggravated by the 02-03-93 incident." He attributed Bollinger's symptoms to a non-industrial incident occurring in the summer of 1995.
Orthopedist James Champa prepared a worker's compensation impairment rating of Bollinger in March 1996. He concluded that Bollinger had a 5% whole person impairment of the lumbosacral spine. Dr. Champa concurred with Dr. Lambert's restrictions on physical activity. He noted that, after therap
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