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Boyd v. Arctic Slop Native Association Insurance Co.6/23/2004
Memorandum decisions of this court do not create legal precedent. See Alaska Appellate Rule 214(d). Accordingly, this memorandum decision may not be cited for any proposition of law or as an example of the proper resolution of any issue.
MEMORANDUM OPINION ALASKA NATIONAL AND JUDGMENT
[No. 1170 - June 23, 2004]
I. INTRODUCTION
Sharon Boyd appeals the Alaska Workers' Compensation Board's decision denying her benefits. Boyd argues that the Board failed to make adequate findings and that the Board failed to adequately address her discovery concerns denying her due process. We agree that the Board's findings were inadequate and remand for further findings with respect to the Bean Report and Dr. Wolf's testimony. We affirm the Board's discovery decisions and find no violation of Boyd's due process rights.
II. FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS
On April 11, 1997, Sharon Boyd was working as an x-ray technician at a hospital in Barrow. That morning, there was a sluggish drain in a nurses' station near the x-ray department. A maintenance person poured a quart of Mule Kick, a drain cleaner composed mainly of sulfuric acid, down the drain. The drain was then flushed with water. The drain was connected to pipes that also drained chemicals from the x-ray department. Chemical wastes were discharged with each film that was developed. (The manufacturer of the developer warns that the chemical wastes in combination with strong acids "may liberate sulfur dioxide gas.") Boyd complained of a bad odor coming from the x-ray department, but continued processing films. Around 3:00 p.m. Boyd's distress from the fumes became so severe that she went to the emergency room for treatment. She then returned to work. Two other employees, Cecil Colvin and Mona Saunders, also reported smelling fumes that were very strong and irritating. After walking home that evening, Boyd began experiencing coughing, wheezing, and shortness of breath. She went back to the hospital for treatment, and then returned to her home. By 10:00 p.m. she was in distress again and was admitted to the hospital in acute respiratory distress. On April 12 she was medivac'd to Providence Hospital in Anchorage. At Providence she was treated by Dr. Burtis, who diagnosed her with "fume/vapor bronchitis/pneumonia, stridor, and vocal cord disease." On April 12 she signed a report of injury, reporting "respiratory distress" due to "inhalation of chemical fumes." She was released from the hospital on April 22. The following day she was readmitted into the intensive care unit. She was again released on April 26.
Boyd returned to work on May 5, 1997, but had continued respiratory problems, for which she was treated four times in Barrow. On June 4 Boyd returned to Anchorage for a follow-up evaluation with Dr. Burtis. The insurer then scheduled the first employer medical evaluation in San Francisco with Drs. Levine, Klein, Brodsky, and Deitrick. On June 9 Boyd started experiencing respiratory difficulty while on the flight to San Francisco for the evaluations, and the pilot was forced to return to Anchorage. On June 11 Boyd was able to make the trip to San Francisco and underwent eight days of medical evaluations. During this time she was treated three times in the emergency room.
Dr. Levine found that Boyd had inhaled something that caused exacerbation of her tendency for cough and stridor. He predicted that she would be fully recovered and able to work by mid-August of 1997. Based on this determination, Arctic Slope stopped paying benefits to Boyd on August 11, 1997.
Back in Anchorage, Boyd seemed not to improve, and Dr. Burtis diagnosed upper respiratory tract hypersensitivity re
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