ADAM J. BOUCHER, Employee/Appellant,
v.
ST. LUKE’S HOSP. OF DULUTH and SFM MUT. INS. CO., Employer-Insurer/Respondents.
No. WC20-6336
Minnesota Workers Compensation
Workers’ Compensation Court of Appeals
September 17, 2020
MEDICAL
TREATMENT & EXPENSE – REASONABLE & NECESSARY.
Substantial evidence in the record, including well-founded
medical opinion, supports the compensation judge’s
denial of payment for medical treatment as that medical
treatment was not reasonable, necessary, or causally related
to the work injury.
EVIDENCE
– EXPERT MEDICAL OPINION. The compensation judge did
not abuse her discretion in relying on expert medical opinion
that had adequate foundation and was consistent with the
employee’s medical record.
Stephanie M. Balmer, Falsani, Balmer, Peterson & Balmer,
Duluth, Minnesota, for the Appellant.
Sarah
M. Hunter, Lynn, Scharfenberg & Hollick, Bloomington,
Minnesota, for the Respondents.
Determined by: Deborah K. Sundquist, Judge David A.
Stofferahn, Judge Gary M. Hall, Judge
Compensation Judge: Kristina B. Lund
Affirmed.
OPINION
DEBORAH K. SUNDQUIST, Judge.
The
employee appeals the compensation judge’s denial of
medical benefits. As the compensation judge’s findings
are supported by substantial evidence, we affirm.
BACKGROUND
Adam
Boucher, the employee, was a certified nursing assistant
working for employer St. Luke’s Hospital when he
injured his low back lifting a patient on June 30, 2018. The
same day, the employee sought care at St. Luke’s with
complaints of low back pain into his pelvis and buttocks with
occasional pain and numbness in his right leg. He underwent
physical therapy and by August 2018 appeared to improve,
reporting little pain and walking two miles without issue.
By
September 2018, the employee’s condition worsened. He
complained of bilateral lower extremity paresthesia and low
back pain. In October 2018, when his left leg symptoms caused
a loss of the ability to lift his left leg, he began treating
with Eric Kirchner, M.D., who ordered a number of diagnostic
studies including multiple MRI scans and an EMG. Dr. Kirchner
noted that the workup revealed an L5-S1 disc protrusion, but
the EMG showed no evidence of radiculopathy. He further noted
that an epidural injection did not relieve the
employee’s symptoms. Dr. Kirchner questioned whether
the employee’s complaints were somatization as the
tests were unremarkable and did not account for his reported
weakness.
When
his left leg symptoms continued to worsen, the employee was
referred to the Mayo Clinic in December 2018 and was seen in
the occupational medicine department by Michael C. Wainberg,
M.D. Dr. Wainberg diagnosed the employee’s condition as
back pain and an abnormal gait non-orthopedic. He recommended
facet or sacroiliac block and trigger point injections, but
these treatments provided no significant relief of the
employee’s pain. The employee was then seen by Shirlene
Sampson, M.D., who diagnosed the employee with anxiety, PTSD
- prolonged, panic disorder, chronic pain, and clinical
depression.
In
March 2019, Dr. Kirchner reflected on the Mayo Clinic
assessment of functional gait...
