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Mason v. Wytheville Golf Club Inc.6/11/1996
Hanley, an orthopedist, reviewed claimant's medical records for employer. Dr. Hanley concluded that claimant's failure to respond to the conservative management protocols directed towards him was a clear indication of malingering and embellishment. Dr. Hanley noted that the objective findings did not indicate any significant injury to the spinal axis nor did they support claimant's present complaints. He opined that claimant's continuing discomfort was fabricated and not substantiated by the medical records. Dr. Hanley saw no evidence to support any disability.
The commission denied claimant's application, finding that he failed to prove any physical change in his condition since the commission terminated his compensation on March 3, 1994. This finding is amply supported by the medical records and opinions of Drs. Leipzig, Joiner, Cepulo, and Hanley. Based upon this lack of any persuasive objective medical evidence supporting a functionally incapacitating injury , we cannot find as a matter of law that claimant sustained his burden of proving causally related disability due to his alleged continuing back symptoms.
Moreover, in its role as fact finder, the commission was entitled to determine what weight, if any, was to be given to Dr. Dubner's opinion. "It lies within the commission's authority to determine the facts and the weight of the evidence . . . ." Rose v. Red's Hitch & Trailer Servs., Inc., 11 Va. App. 55, 60, 396 S.E.2d 392, 395 (1990). Dr. Dubner based his opinion upon an inaccurate and incomplete psychological history. Where a medical opinion is based upon an incomplete or inaccurate medical history, the commission is entitled to conclude that the opinion is of little probative value. See Clinchfield Coal Co. v. Bowman, 229 Va. 249, 251-52, 329 S.E.2d 15, 16 (1985).
For these reasons, we affirm the commission's decision.
Affirmed.
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