Summary 2009 WY 39

Summary of Decision issued March 18, 2009

Summaries are prepared by Law Librarians and are not official statements of the Wyoming Supreme Court.

Case Name: Langberg v. State ex rel. Wyoming Workers’ Safety and Compensation Division

Citation: 2009 WY 39

Docket Number: S-08-0001

Appeal from the District Court of Laramie County, the Honorable Nicholas G. Kalokathis, Judge.

Representing Appellant Langberg: Thomas L. Lee, Cheyenne, Wyoming.

Representing Appellee State: Bruce A. Salzburg, Wyoming Attorney General; John W. Renneisen, Deputy Attorney General; James Michael Causey, Senior Assistant Attorney General; J.C. Demers, Special Assistant Attorney General.

Facts/Discussion: Langberg suffered two separate injuries to his left wrist while on the job. After his original injury, he felt a pop and experienced pain. After his second injury the pain in his wrist increased in severity. Ultimately, he underwent surgery. The Workers’ Compensation Division (Division) covered the initial treatment for the injuries but denied coverage for the surgery. The Division found the surgery to be necessitated by a preexisting condition that was not materially aggravated by his job injuries.

Causation of Keinbock’s Disease: Langberg argued the evidence was sufficient to prove the cause of his Keinbock’s was a single traumatic injury relying upon the fact that the x-rays taken after the first injury did not show any abnormalities. The x-rays taken after the second injury showed changes. He argued the circumstantial evidence irrefutably pointed to the work injuries being the trigger for the onset of his Keinbock’s disease. Langberg’s treating physician testified that he couldn’t say the injury did cause the onset of the disease but he also couldn’t rule out that the injury did not cause the onset of the disease. In the face of this testimony, the Court found the OAH’s decision was not against the overwhelming weight of the evidence. It agreed Langberg’s Keinbock’s disease was not caused by his work injuries but rather was a preexisting condition.
Material aggravation of a preexisting condition: It was Langberg’s burden to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that his work-related injuries materially aggravated, accelerated, or combined with his Keinbock’s to necessitate the surgery for which he was seeking compensation. Langberg relied upon the circumstances of his case, including the fact that he had no history of left wrist problems before the work injuries and upon the testimony of his doctor stating that the injuries materially exacerbated his Keinbock’s. The parties differed over the definition of “exacerbate” with Langberg arguing it was synonymous with “aggravate.” The Division argued the two terms were mutually exclusive. Each party found support in reference books including a medical dictionary and the AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment. Under the specific circumstances of the case, the Court found no ambiguity in the use of the term “exacerbate.” It was used consistently with its common dictionary definition. Any finding to the contrary was against the overwhelming weight of the evidence. The doctor’s direct testimony on the issue overwhelmingly established the requisite causal connection between Langberg’s work-related injuries and his surgery.

Conclusion: Upon review of the record as a whole, the Court held the evidence overwhelmingly supported a finding that Langberg’s work-related injuries led to his need for surgery.

Reversed.

J. Golden delivered the decision.

Link: http://tinyurl.com/c3cs6t .

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