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Serda v. State ex rel Wyoming Workers' Safety and Compensation Div.3/14/2002
quest of the Employee/Claimant" and that " he Employee/Claimant did not seek an additional Impairment Rating under the provisions of W.S. §27-14-604." There is nothing in the record to dispute these findings. In fact, in her "Response to Objection to Application for Award of Attorney Fees and Payment of Expenses," Serda, through her attorney, admitted that the medical examination was done at her request by "a physician of her own choosing." Thus, the examination was a private examination that in no way complied with the IME procedure contemplated by § 604.
[ ] The factual issue before the court, then, involves the responsibility for payment of a private medical examination. The problem with allowing payment for a private medical examination under the guise of costs is that the statutes reflect a scheme whereby a party requesting a private medical examination should be responsible for the payment therefor. The only time the hearing officer is specifically provided with authority to direct payment of a medical examination is if the examination is an independent examination under § 604. In order to determine legislative intent, statutes must be read in pari materia, In re WJH, 2001 WY 54, , 24 P.3d 1147, (Wyo. 2001) ("in ascertaining the meaning of a given law, we consider and construe in harmony all statutes relating to the same subject or having the same general purpose"), and specific statutes control over general statutes on the same subject. Thunderbasin Land, Livestock & Inv. Co. v. County of Laramie County, 5 P.3d 774, 782 (Wyo. 2000) ("The specific statute controls over the general when they address the same subject.")
[ ] Here, there is a very specific statute dealing with the issue of directing payment for medical examinations for contested case hearings. It states that the hearing officer has discretion to direct payment for an independent medical examination conducted by an impartial health care provider appointed by the hearing officer, but that the parties should bear the expenses of any private physicians they wish to employ. An administrative rule relating to attorney costs generally cannot override this specific statutory language.
[ ] The facts are simply that, in the context of a contested case hearing, Serda employed a private physician to conduct a private physical examination. There is no statutory provision allowing for anyone other than Serda to pay for the expenses associated therewith. The order of the Commission is rightly affirmed.
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