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Bailey v. Texas Instruments4/22/2005
No. 5889
I. INTRODUCTION
In 1997, 1999, and 2001, Walter Bailey filed workers' compensation claims for medications to treat a work-related back injury . His employer, Geophysical Services, contested the claims, and the workers' compensation board dismissed them because Bailey failed to request a hearing within two years after Geophysical Services controverted his 1997 claim. We affirm the board's order dismissing the earlier claims but reverse as to the 2001 claim. Bailey's 2001 claim sought compensation for later medical services than his earlier claims and could not have been filed with those claims, so it was subject to its own statute of limitations. Because Bailey asked for a hearing in 2002, less than two years after filing his 2001 claim, that claim was not time-barred and should not have been dismissed.
II. FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS
Walter Bailey fell and injured his lower back in May 1981 while pulling cable as an employee of Geophysical Services, Inc. (Geophysical). Geophysical accepted Bailey's workers' compensation claim and paid medical and time-loss benefits over the next seven years. Then a dispute arose concerning the extent of Bailey's disabilities and his ability to return to work. The parties reached a settlement in 1988. As part of the settlement, Bailey waived all non-medical claims against Geophysical but preserved his right to claim future medical benefits; Geophysical reserved the right to contest any future medical claims.
After settling with Bailey, Geophysical continued paying for medical care and medication related to his injury for nine more years. His treatment included hydrotherapy and physical therapy, as well as narcotics and benzodiazepines to manage pain. In early 1997 several Fairbanks pharmacies submitted claims to Geophysical for Bailey's prescription medication. Geophysical controverted those claims. It did not challenge the compensability of his underlying injury; instead, relying on the results of an independent medical examination, Geophysical claimed that Bailey no longer needed narcotics and benzodiazepines and could be treated with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications.
Soon after Geophysical filed its notice of controversion, Bailey applied to the workers' compensation board for an adjustment of his claim, seeking to compel Geophysical to pay for his prescriptions. On October 2, 1997, Geophysical again controverted Bailey's claim.
On October 1, 1999, not quite two years after the second controversion, Bailey filed another claim, contesting Geophysical's continuing refusal to pay the 1997 pharmacy bills. Geophysical controverted this claim on October 13, 1999. In addition to the arguments it raised in its previous controversion notices, Geophysical contended that Bailey's claim was time-barred because he had not requested a hearing within two years of the 1997 controversion.
Two months later the board held a prehearing conference. The hearing officer assumed that Bailey's 1999 claim amended his 1997 claim. Because the hearing officer recognized that Bailey was not represented by an attorney and might not have understood the two-year statute of limitations for requesting a hearing, she explained that Bailey needed to request a hearing within two years. In addition, she apparently restarted the statute-of-limitations clock, giving Bailey two years from the October 13 controversion to submit his request for a hearing.
About eighteen months later, in May 2001, Bailey filed another claim. In this claim he sought payment for medical expenses he had incurred since 1997. He also pressed claims for breach of contract, mental duress, and physical pain
Page 1 2 3 4 Alaska Personal Injury Attorneys
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