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Meyer v. IBP7/13/2005
IBP, Inc., appeals the district court's reversal of the agency decision. REVERSED.
Heard by Sackett, C.J., and Huitink and Vaitheswaran, JJ.
Jerry Meyer claimed he sustained a compensable injury in the form of carpal and cubital tunnel syndromes on December 22, 2000, during the course of his employment with IBP, Inc. The agency denied his claim, finding there was no medical evidence to support a finding that Meyer's work incident of that date either caused or materially aggravated his syndromes. On judicial review the district court rejected the agency's findings, determining there was not substantial evidence to support the conclusions reached by the agency. The district court then proceeded to find that substantial evidence existed to support the conclusion Meyer established an injury occurring on December 22, 2000, in the course of Meyer's employment and that the record established Meyer's injury manifested itself on December 22, 2000. The court also found there was no evidence to support any other finding. We reverse the district court and affirm the agency decision.
I. BACKGROUND FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS
At the time of alleged injury, Meyer had been employed by IBP for only two days. Meyer had worked at the plant the prior two months, but as an employee of Advance Services, Inc. While working for both employers Meyer was assigned the job of "popping tongues/mark snout." This job required repetitive bilateral upper extremity grasping, pulling, pushing, and cutting. Meyer was hired as a permanent IBP employee on December 18, 2000, after a pre-employment physical.
On December 22, 2000, Meyer reported he experienced a sharp, sudden pain in his finger on his left hand after he felt a popping and snapping sensation in his left wrist while he was working. He said the pain traveled up his arm and he experienced numbness and tingling in his fingers. Meyer went to the IBP health center about the pain. He was told to ice his hand and was kept off work for the remainder of his shift. Meyer returned to light duty work, but on December 26, 2000, he returned to the IBP health center due to pain and swelling in his left hand. IBP sent Meyer to an outside health care provider. Meyer reported that while popping tongues he had pain in this fingers, wrist, and arm. Also, he reported numbness and tingling in his first three fingers. To treat the injury, Meyer was fitted for a brace and prescribed medication.
On January 25, 2001 Dr. Brian Sires conducted electrodiagnostic testing on Meyer, which revealed moderate left carpal tunnel syndrome with median nerve entrapment at the wrist and moderate left ulnar neuropathy at the elbow. Meyer was referred to Dr. Thomas Gorsche, an orthopedic specialist, for a surgery consultation. Dr. Gorsche recommended carpal tunnel release and ulnar nerve transposition procedures. IBP sent a letter to Dr. Gorsche on February 26, 2001 stating that Meyer had worked at IBP since October 10, 2000 as an employee of Advance Services, and then had recently been hired by IBP as a permanent employee. The ultimate question IBP sought to have Dr. Gorsche answer was, "Are you able to state within a reasonable degree of medical certainty that the left CTS and ulnar neuropathy was causally related to 1 day of work activities for IBP?" The question was followed with a space to check either "No" or "Yes." A couple of months later, on April 13, 2001, IBP sent another letter to Dr. Gorsche. IBP wrote to correct the first letter, informing Dr. Gorsche that Meyer had worked for IBP for two days. Specifically, IBP asked Dr. Gorsche, "Are you able to state within a reasonable degree of medical certainty that the left CTS and ulnar neuropathy was caus
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