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Grover C. Dils Medical Center v. Menditto6/9/2005
rkers' compensation law or whether Menditto merely suffered progressively worsening symptoms. We reiterate that, in ongoing symptoms cases, the mere increased severity or exacerbation of symptoms, without more, is not "sudden" or "unforeseen" and does not constitute "objective symptoms of an injury" under Nevada's workers' compensation law.
And even if either of the two incidents constituted an injury or accident, the appeals officer should consider whether evidence in the record demonstrates that these incidents independently contributed to Menditto's final disabling condition. Thus, the appeals officer must determine whether any evidence sufficiently connects Menditto's work at Dils Medical with anything more than Menditto's continued or increased symptoms. If the evidence demonstrates that the Dils Medical incidents amounted to injuries or accidents and independently contributed to Menditto's subsequent disabling condition, responsibility for Menditto's claim lies with Dils Medical; otherwise, if no specific incident can independently explain her worsened condition, Menditto's condition is a mere "recurrence," and Olsten must be held liable.
Finally, Dils Medical alternatively argues that Menditto's notification of injury was untimely. We note that, although the timeliness issue was raised during the hearing before the appeals officer, the appeals officer's original determination failed to address this issue. If, when rendering a new determination, the appeals officer determines that Menditto's subsequent condition is an aggravation, the appeals officer's new determination should also address Dils Medical's timeliness argument.
CONCLUSION
Under the last injurious exposure rule, an aggravation is established when medical evidence demonstrates that a specific subsequent work-related incident, amounting to an injury or accident, independently contributed to the final disabling condition. In this instance, the appeals officer's determination was based on inapplicable decisional law and inconsistent evidence. Accordingly, we reverse the district court's order denying Dils Medical's petition for judicial review, and we remand this matter to the district court with instructions to grant the petition and to direct the appeals officer to render a new determination regarding which employer is responsible for Menditto's claim under the last injurious exposure rule, in light of this opinion.
MAUPIN, J., concurring.
I concur in the majority analysis of the "last injurious exposure" rule. This latest articulation of the rule clarifies one aspect of a very complex statutory framework for compensating injured Nevada workers. I write separately to note my concern over the evolution of that framework, and to urge that the Nevada Legislature commence a reexamination of it.
In Las Vegas Housing Authority v. Root, we idealistically observed that " he last injurious exposure rule . . . frees the employee from the burden of allocating responsibility for his disability and forestalls any determination regarding which employment was the 'primary cause' of a work-related disease or injury." If the case currently before us has any meaning at all, the last injurious exposure rule has done nothing of the kind. In short, this claimant's "burden" has been considerable.
The complicated analytical exercise performed by the majority in this matter typifies our recent attempts at interpreting the Nevada Industrial Insurance Act. Such descriptives as "last injurious exposure" and "primary causation" are themselves demonstrative of the many obscure concepts that permeate this legislation. In short, the current statutory scheme has so evolved that
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