Jones v. North Dakota Workers Compensation Bureau, 900171

• Decision Date: 02 October 1990
• Docket Number: No. 900171,900171
• Citation: 461 N.W.2d 273
• Parties: Calvin JONES, Appellant, v. NORTH DAKOTA WORKERS COMPENSATION BUREAU, Appellee. Civ.
• Court: North Dakota Supreme Court

Page 273

461 N.W.2d 273

Calvin JONES, Appellant, v. NORTH DAKOTA WORKERS COMPENSATION BUREAU, Appellee.

Civ. No. 900171.

Supreme Court of North Dakota.

Oct. 2, 1990.

Steven L. Latham (argued), of Wheeler Wolf, Bismarck, for appellant.

Hugh Patrick Seaworth (argued), Asst. Atty. Gen., North Dakota Workers Compensation Bureau, Bismarck, for appellee.

GIERKE, Justice.

Calvin Jones appealed from a district court judgment affirming an order of the Workers Compensation Bureau denying him medical benefits. We affirm.

On December 17, 1983, Jones injured his lower back while employed in the oil fields near Williston. Jones was treated by Dr. Ronald Wright, a chiropractor in Williston. Dr. Wright diagnosed Jones' injury as "thoracic strains and subluxation complexes initiating a thoracic radiculitis." The Bureau paid Jones' medical expenses for treatment by Dr. Wright in December 1983 and January 1984. On January 15, 1984, Dr. Wright reported that Jones was discharged from treatment and requested that Jones' claim be closed.

In April 1984, Dr. Wright notified the Bureau that Jones had reinjured his back using a sledge hammer at work. Dr. Wright treated Jones' back from March through April of 1984, and the Bureau paid for those treatments. On May 15, 1984, Dr. Wright reported that Jones was released from treatment and requested that Jones' claim be closed.

Jones returned to Dr. Wright for additional treatments for his back in February, March, and November 1985. Dr. Wright reported that "we did not relate [those treatments] to the previous injury." Jones testified that Dr. Wright told him that bills for those treatments should not be submitted to the Bureau because the treatments were not related to the work injury, and Jones paid for those treatments himself. Jones testified that he moved to Colorado in late 1985 and was treated by a chiropractor on two or three occasions in 1985 and 1986 in Commerce City, Colorado. Jones paid for those treatments, but he did not remember the chiropractor's name.

In 1987, Jones moved to Minnesota and was treated by Dr. David Stussy on May 19, 1988. Jones completed a report on November 17, 1988, stating that his back symptoms had been the same for several years and that when he first saw Dr. Stussy his symptoms were worse because of heavy lifting at work. Dr. Stussy opined "that the current treatment that I am rendering is for the cure and relief of symptoms that directly related to his original 1983 low back injury" and "that there clearly is a causal relationship between his current symptoms and his old injury." Jones applied to the Bureau for benefits.

The Bureau retained Dr. Roy Ottinger, a chiropractor and diplomate in roentgenology, to review the records, x-rays, and notes of both Dr. Wright and Dr. Stussy. In a written report to the Bureau dated May 17, 1989, Dr. Ottinger concluded that it takes six months for a sprain or strain to heal, and since Jones did not seek care for his original injury for four years, the original strain would have healed. Dr. Ottinger further concluded that there was not substantial medical evidence to verify that Jones' recent problems were the result of his original injury and that it was highly improbable that he would have had a reoccurrence of that injury, or the pain associated with it, without severe trauma or several micro traumas to the area.

Based on Dr. Ottinger's opinion, the Bureau denied Jones' claim for benefits. Jones requested a rehearing. After the Bureau heard telephonic testimony from Jones, Dr. Stussy, and Dr. Ottinger, the Bureau affirmed its order denying further benefits, finding:

"The greater weight of the evidence, including in particular the records of Dr. Wright and the report and testimony of Dr. Ottinger, along with records of Dr. Stussy, does not indicate that claimant's current condition is causally related to his work injury in 1983. It is not likely, considering that claimant had only three treatments in 1985, and only two treatments in the period of time from November of 1985 to May of 1988, that claimant's condition in May of 1988 and thereafter is causally related to the 1983 work injury. Furthermore, medical records of Dr. Stussy, including in particular the written statement of the claimant, indicate that claimant attributed his symptoms in 1988 in large part to his work in Minnesota at that time. Finally, there is no support...