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Lang v. Guthrie Wood Fibers3/8/2000
NOT DESIGNATED FOR PUBLICATION
AFFIRMED
Appellant Jeffery Lang appeals from a decision of the Workers' Compensation Commission finding that he failed to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that he suffered a compensable injury while employed by appellee, Guthrie Wood Fibers, Inc. On appeal, appellant argues that there was no substantial evidence to support the Commission's findings.
On May 15, 1998, appellant was injured when his lower back was hit by a Barko loader. On that same date, he sought medical treatment at Sparks Regional emergency room and returned to work the next day. Appellant testified that two weeks after the injury, he began to experience pain in his lower back, leg, and groin area. He sought treatment with Dr. Mark Hewett, who evaluated appellant's lower abdominal and testes pain. At that time, Dr. Hewett diagnosed appellant with prostatitis and right epididymitis. Appellant was then referred to Dr. Thomas Florian. In a medical report dated July 14, 1998, Dr. Florian opined that within a reasonable degree of medical certainty, appellant's back and leg pain were due to his May 15, 1998, injury.
However, Dr. Florian reported that he did not know whether appellant's testicle pain was attributable to appellant's job and stated that appellant's leg and back pain was due to his injury at work "unless there were other factors didn't know about." An MRI scan of appellant's lumbar spine was performed July 16, 1998, and revealed minimal disk bulges at L4-5 and L5-S1. Appellant was subsequently treated with epidural steroid injections.
On August 17, 1998, appellant sought treatment from Dr. J. Michael Standefer for an evaluation of his back and groin pain. Dr. Standefer stated that appellant had a previous medical history of chronic back pain and that appellant was treated conservatively for that problem. Dr. Standefer stated that appellant's July 16, 1998, MRI showed no significant focal herniation and that in comparing the July 16 MRI with an MRI performed on appellant in 1995, the July 16 MRI was normal. He found that the minimal disc bulging seen in the July 16 MRI " not appear to be different than that noted in 1995." Dr. Standefer diagnosed appellant with low back pain and noted that appellant's condition "may well be related to underlying mild degenerative changes in the lumbar spine but certainly is a non-surgical problem." On September 23, 1998, appellant was evaluated by Dr. John Landherr. Dr. Landherr diagnosed appellant with a lumbar strain and stated that appellant did not shows signs of "any surgically treatable lesion."
At a hearing before the administrative law judge, appellant contended that his May 15, 1998, injury was compensable and that he was entitled to credit for group benefits paid, all reasonable and necessary medical treatment related to his injury, temporary total disability from May 27, 1998, through a date yet to be determined, and attorney's fees. Appellee contended that appellant's medical problems were not related to his employment and that there were no objective findings sufficient to entitle him to benefits.
Appellant testified that he began working for appellee in September of 1997 and that he had experienced back problems at another job in 1990. He testified that his back was medically treated in 1995 and that the treatment was related to "doing hard work in the sawmill." He testified that in 1998, he strained his back after picking up a boat. Appellant testified that when he injured his back on May 15, 1998, he reported the injury to his supervisors and was informed that appellee would send him to a physician if he did not feel better. He testified that his condition w
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