Summary 2010 WY 76

Summary of Decision issued June 9, 2010

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

Case Name: Taylor v. State, ex. Rel., Wyo. Workers’ Safety & Comp. Div.

Citation: 2010 WY 76

Docket Number: S-09-0170

Appeal from the District Court of Sweetwater County, the Honorable Jere A. Ryckman, Judge.

Representing Taylor: Donna D. Domonkos, Cheyenne, Wyoming.

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

Facts/Discussion: Taylor appealed the district court’s order affirming the Medical Commission’s (Commission) determination that he failed to meet his burden of proving his 2007 chiropractic treatment was related to a 1991 work related injury.

Taylor was injured in 1991 when he was emptying water buckets while working as a housekeeper for Hillhaven Nursing Home in Rock Springs. The Division concluded the injury was compensable and allowed payment of his medical claims including chiropractic care. The Division continued to pay for Taylor’s chiropractic treatments until 1998 when it denied some claims on the ground that the treatment was not related to his 1991 injury. The OAH held a contested case hearing and concluded that it was related and until further medical evidence would warrant a change, he was entitled to receive medical benefits for continuing chiropractic care. Taylor was involved in a number of accidents in 1999 and 2002. Taylor continued to receive treatment paid by the Division until 2007 when it denied further payments. The Commission ruled that Dr. Davidson was not a credible witness because he had a poor working knowledge of the mechanism of the 1991 injury and the prior care and treatment Taylor had received in the interim years. The Commission also considered the report of an independent medical evaluation which concluded the 2007 chiropractic treatment was not related to the 1991 injury.
Taylor asserted the Commission committed an error of law when it considered any evidence that was or could have been presented at the 1998 contested case hearing. He claimed that collateral estoppel barred consideration of such evidence. The issue determined in 1998 was whether Taylor’s chiropractic treatment was related to the 1991 work injury. Since the Commission did not re-analyze the propriety of the 1998 contested case ruling, the issues were not identical and collateral estoppel did not bar the Commission from considering any of the evidence presented at the hearing. The records showed that the intervening accidents affected the same areas of the body as were being treated by Dr. Davidson.

Conclusion: Dr. Davidson was the only medical provider who provided evidence relating Taylor’s 2007 chiropractic treatment to his original injury. The Commission rejected the doctor’s opinion because he had an insufficient understanding of the original injury and the intervening events. Moreover, in direct contradiction of Davidson’s testimony that he only treated the areas of the original injury, Taylor testified that Davidson actually treated his whole spine, both shoulders and hips. Taylor does not contest any of the Commission’s findings of fact about the intervening injuries and Davidson’s credibility. Those aspects of the Commission’s decision, without reference to Taylor’s preexisting condition, are sufficient to uphold its decision.

Affirmed.

J. Kite delivered the decision.

Link: http://tinyurl.com/294ycog .

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