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Smith v. North Dakota Workers Compensation Bureau3/21/2000
own anyone to be frostbitten as badly as Smith and no other worker on any of Nabors' North Dakota rigs was frostbitten during that winter.
[ ] Dr. Rodney Bobbitt, who examined Smith's drug test, testified about the positive results. He stated a Vicks inhaler could produce positive amphetamine results, but the proportions of amphetamine and methamphetamine on the test were not consistent with Vicks. Smith's test showed much higher concentrations of methamphetamine than amphetamine; Vicks produces the opposite result. Eating the cotton from an inhaler creates a higher amphetamine result than would proper use of an inhaler; however, the proportions of each substance would be the same.
[ ] Bobbitt stated Smith reported taking Dilaudid, which would account for the positive opiate result; however, Smith never sent him a prescription for Dilaudid. Smith did send a prescription for Tylenol with Codeine, but that drug would not produce the type of positive found in the test result. Bobbitt also stated Smith received Demerol during treatment on January 10, 1998, which could account for the opiate result.
[ ] According to Bobbitt, Smith never reported he had taken Disoxin, which could have accounted for the positive methamphetamine result; Smith also never sent a copy of a Disoxin prescription. Bobbitt testified, at the outside, Disoxin remains in the body for 36 hours. Bobbitt explained methamphetamine affects the distal vascular system by constricting the blood vessels, thus reducing blood flow, so that a person under the influence of methamphetamine is more susceptible to cold. Bobbitt admitted the test result did not reliably indicate what might have been in Smith's system on January 8, 1998, because the test was too remote in time from the injury.
[ ] Finally, the deposition testimony of Robin Mize, a physician's assistant, was also admitted into evidence at the hearing. Mize testified Smith admitted a problem with recreational methamphetamine use during a discussion she had with him about the positive test result. Mize said she believed Smith had an ongoing problem.
[ ] On November 23, 1998, the Administrative Law Judge ("ALJ") released his recommended findings of fact, conclusions of law and order. In determining whether Smith had methamphetamine in his system when he sustained his frostbite injury on January 8, 1998, the ALJ considered Smith's admission he had taken methamphetamine the day before his injury, his statement he had taken methamphetamine the day after his injury, and his conversation about his drug problem with Mize, as "persuasive evidence of a high probability" Smith had methamphetamine in his system on January 8, 1998. The ALJ determined Smith's evasiveness and lack of honesty tipped the scale toward that finding. Though the ALJ acknowledged there was no hard evidence Smith ingested methamphetamine on the date of his injury, that was the only logical conclusion to be drawn from the evidence. The ALJ concluded methamphetamine was responsible for Smith's frostbite injuries because it made him more susceptible to cold weather. The weight of the evidence established self-induced reduction of blood flow to Smith's fingers was the cause of his frostbite, and thus Smith's injury was non-compensable. The Bureau adopted the ALJ's recommended findings of fact, conclusions of law and order, and the trial court affirmed the Bureau's decision.
II.
[ ] On appeal, this Court reviews the Bureau's decision, rather than the decision of the district court. Loberg v. North Dakota Workers Compensation Bureau, 1998 ND 64, 5, 575 N.W.2d 221. We affirm the Bureau's decision unless its findings of fact are not supported by a preponderanc
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