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Bockness v. Brown Jug Inc.5/28/1999
Appeal from the Superior Court of the State of Alaska, Third Judicial District, Anchorage, Peter A. Michalski, Judge.
I. INTRODUCTION
Ray Bockness appeals the partial denial of workers' compensation benefits for a work-related back injury. The Alaska Workers' Compensation Board found that Bockness's employer, Brown Jug, Inc., did not need to pay for chiropractic treatments beyond those authorized by 5 AAC 45.082 or for more than six weeks of injection therapy. The superior court affirmed. Because the Board correctly applied the law to Bockness's claim and because substantial evidence exists to support the Board's decision, we affirm.
II. FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS
Ray Bockness, an employee of Brown Jug, Inc., was injured in a work-related accident on March 23, 1993. As Bockness was unloading beverages from a truck, the ramp on which he was standing collapsed, leaving Bockness hanging from the truck with one hand and holding onto a loaded hand truck with the other. Bockness suffered a back injury in the accident. He returned to part-time work on April 7, 1993, but his doctor restricted him to light duty work (lifting only up to twenty-five pounds). Bockness slowly returned to full-time work but continued to take time off due to back pain.
Bockness first visited Dr. Loren Morgan, a chiropractor, the day following the accident. Dr. Morgan diagnosed Bockness with a "strain/sprain complex involving both the muscle and the ligament" and started a regimen of chiropractic adjustments. Dr. Morgan's original treatment plan called for two weeks of daily treatment, three weekly appointments for the following four to eight weeks, and then two weekly treatments for the following two to four weeks. Dr. Morgan repeatedly submitted this treatment plan to Brown Jug in accordance with AS 23.30.095(c).
On April 9, 1993, Brown Jug controverted Dr. Morgan's treatments to the extent that they exceeded the frequency standards set out in 8 AAC 45.082(f). In December 1993 Brown Jug arranged for Drs. Charles D. Potter and Richard L. Peterson to perform an independent medical evaluation (IME) for Bockness. Dr. Shawn Hadley performed a second IME in March 1994. All three physicians recommended that Dr. Morgan's chiropractic adjustments be discontinued.
Bockness continued to experience pain, at times severe. He also suffered from periods of incontinence. Thus, despite the recommendations of the IME panel and of Dr. Hadley, Bockness continued his chiropractic care with Dr. Morgan. Along with his own treatment, Dr. Morgan also made several referrals for Bockness, including a referral to Dr. Glenn Ferris, a physician specializing in physical medicine and pain management. Dr. Ferris first saw Bockness on May 11, 1994 and began a treatment protocol of physical therapy, pain medication, and a series of trigger point and epidural injections. These treatments are considered by the medical community to be controversial. Dr. Morgan also referred Bockness to Health Beat of Alaska for active physical therapy, but the treatments were discontinued at Dr. Morgan's request when Bockness's pain increased. Dr. Morgan told Health Beat that he felt the injection therapy would provide greater benefit to Bockness than would continued physical therapy; accordingly, Bockness continued with chiropractic care from Dr. Morgan combined with Dr. Ferris's injection protocol.
Dr. Hadley examined Bockness again at Brown Jug's request in May 1994. She concluded that further chiropractic care and injection therapy were not medically indicated. Based on the opinions of Drs. Potter, Peterson, and Hadley, Brown Jug filed another controversion notice, this time challeng
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