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MGM Supply Co. v. Industrial Claim Appeals Office of the State of Colorado3/14/2002
ORDER AFFIRMED
Marquez and Taubman, JJ., concur
In this workers' compensation proceeding, MGM Supply Co. and its insurer, Mid-Century Insurance Co. (collectively employer), seek review of a final order of the Industrial Claim Appeals Office (Panel) upholding the award of permanent partial disability (PPD) benefits to Anthony L. Martinez (claimant). We affirm.
Claimant sustained an admitted industrial injury to his left shoulder. Surgery was performed to repair the shoulder separation, but claimant continued to suffer pain, even after a second surgery to remove a screw that had been placed in his shoulder during the first surgery.
After additional efforts proved unsuccessful, claimant's treating physician recommended a joint injection as a diagnostic tool to determine whether arthroscopic surgery would be beneficial. Claimant refused to undergo further injections or surgery. As a consequence, the treating physician placed claimant at maximum medical improvement (MMI) with a zero permanent impairment rating.
Employer filed a final admission consistent with the treating physician's rating. Claimant objected and requested a division-sponsored independent medical examination (DIME). The DIME physician agreed with the treating physician's recommendations concerning additional surgery and, accordingly, opined that claimant had not yet reached MMI. However, after noting that claimant had refused additional surgery, the DIME physician evaluated claimant's existing condition and assigned him a twenty-three percent whole-person permanent impairment rating.
Following an evidentiary hearing requested by employer, the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) concluded that the DIME impairment rating had not been overcome by clear and convincing evidence, as required by § 8-42-107(8)(c), C.R.S. 2001. The ALJ also found that claimant's refusal to undergo further injections and surgeries was reasonable and afforded no basis for reducing benefits pursuant to § 8-43-404(3), C.R.S. 2001, which provides for such reduction if an injured employee refuses essential medical or surgical treatment.
I.
Employer contends that the ALJ's order awarding compensation is void because § 8-43-201, C.R.S. 2001, which gives ALJs jurisdiction to hear and decide matters arising under the Workers' Compensation Act, conflicts with article VI, § 9 of the Colorado Constitution. We disagree.
We note at the outset that this court has initial jurisdiction to address challenges to the constitutionality of the Workers' Compensation Act. See Celebrity Custom Builders v. Industrial Claim Appeals Office, 916 P.2d 539 (Colo. App. 1995).
Statutes are presumed constitutional, and the burden is on the challenging party to prove them unconstitutional beyond a reasonable doubt. See Scholz v. Metropolitan Pathologists, P.C., 851 P.2d 901 (Colo. 1993); Lobb v. Industrial Claim Appeals Office, 948 P.2d 115 (Colo. App. 1997). Similarly, when the General Assembly creates an administrative agency and gives it specific enumerated powers and duties pursuant to the state's police power, the agency's exercise of those powers within the scope of its authority is entitled to a presumption of validity and constitutionality. Moore v. District Court, 184 Colo. 63, 518 P.2d 948 (1974).
Article VI, § 9(1) of the Colorado Constitution provides, as pertinent here, that district courts "shall be trial courts of record with general jurisdiction, and shall have original jurisdiction in all civil, probate, and criminal cases, except as otherwise provided herein." Although this provision confers broad jurisdiction on district courts, that jurisdiction may
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