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York v. Burgess-Norton Mfg. Co.12/18/1990
CERTIORARI PREVIOUSLY GRANTED, COURT OF APPEALS OPINION VACATED, ORDER OF THE WORKERS' COMPENSATION COURT REVERSED, AND CAUSE REMANDED FOR FURTHER PROCEEDINGS.
The opinion of the court was delivered by: SUMMERS, Justice.
This Workers' Compensation case presents as its principal issue the non-compliance of a medical report with the Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment (Guides), adopted and published by the American Medical Association. The employer's doctor disregarded inconsistent test results showing pulmonary impairment, and determined instead that the claimant had no such impairment. We find that the employer's doctor could disregard the inconsistent results, but in so doing was required to perform an additional test before finding that the claimant was not impaired.
In a secondary issue we find, contrary to the holding of the trial judge, that the claimant's medical testimony constituted competent evidence of impairment.
York filed a claim on June 4, 1987, alleging that he had sustained an employment-related injury to his lungs and upper respiratory system. The trial judge found that York did not sustain an accidental personal injury arising out of and in the course of employment. The trial judge also found that the claimant's medical evidence was not competent to sustain any finding of occupational disease and thus claimant did not meet his burden of proof. The claimant appealed.
In an unpublished opinion the Court of Appeals found that the report of the employer's doctor was erroneously admitted, and that the report of the claimant's doctor was competent evidence of impairment. It remanded the cause with directions to enter an order awarding the claimant compensation on the basis of the only competent evidence, that is, the claimant's. The employer petitioned for certiorari and the writ was previously granted. We vacate the opinion of the Court of Appeals, reverse the order of the compensation court, and remand for further proceedings.
I. Employer's evidence.
Our standard of review in workers' compensation cases is to determine whether the order of the compensation court is supported by any competent evidence. Parks v. Norman Municipal Hospital, 684 P.2d 548 (Okla. 1984). The first issue involves the opinion of the employer's doctor and his assertion that his opinion deviated from the Guides. The relevant statute states in part:
Except as otherwise provided herein, any examining physician shall only evaluate impairment in accordance with the latest `Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment' adopted and published by the American Medical Association. The examining physician shall not deviate from said guides except as may be specifically provided for in the guides. These officially adopted guides shall be the exclusive basis for testimony and conclusions with regard to permanent impairment with the exception of paragraph 3 of Section 22 of this title, relating to scheduled member injury or loss; and impairment, including pain or loss of strength, may be awarded with respect to those injuries or areas of the body not specifically covered by said guides." 85 O.S.Supp. 1986 ยง 3 (11). (Emphasis added).
This statute states plainly that a physician must evaluate impairment according to the Guides An impairment rating may deviate from the Guides if the exception is "specifically provided for in the guides". In other words, to deviate from the Guides such deviation must be allowed by the Guides itself.
We must initially determine which edition of the Guides applies. The examining physician must use the "late
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