Summary 2010 WY 10

Summary of Decision issued February 4, 2010

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

Case Name: Dutcher v. State, ex rel., Wyo. Workers’ Safety & Comp. Div.

Citation: 2010 WY 10

Docket Number: S-09-0093

Appeal from the District Court of Campbell County, the Honorable Michael N. Deegan, Judge.

Representing Appellant Dutcher: Kenneth DeCock, Plains Law Offices LLP, Gillette, Wyoming.

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

Facts/Discussion: After experiencing sudden numbness and weakness on his left side while at work, Dutcher sought workers’ compensation benefits. Dutcher was examined by three neurologists, two of whom gave a diagnosis of brachial plexopathy and one which gave the diagnosis of cervical myelopathy combined with significant thyroid dysfunction.

Substantial evidence: One difficulty with Dutcher’s claim was that two out of the three doctors upon whom he relied did not state that the brachial plexopathy was related to his work. Another problem was that there was inconsistency in the reports Dutcher gave of the events to the physicians over time. The third neurologist made his diagnosis on Dutcher’s self-report which differed from the report given to the first two physicians. The testimony from the physicians was not sufficient to relate the possibility of the injury to the work Dutcher was doing at the time.

Conclusion: There was no question that Dutcher experienced left-sided weakness at work after lying on his left side while cleaning equipment. The difficulty with the claim was that the physicians did not all agree on a diagnosis and none of them sufficiently linked his condition to his work.

Affirmed.

J. Kite delivered the decision.

Link: http://tinyurl.com/ycalyn5 .

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