91-1208. EMILIO ORTIZ vs. KENNECOTT COPPER CORPORATION Defendant.

• Court: Utah

Utah Workers Compensation Decisions 1995. 91-1208. EMILIO ORTIZ vs. KENNECOTT COPPER CORPORATION Defendant THE INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION OF UTAHEMILIO ORTIZ, Applicant, vs. KENNECOTT COPPER CORPORATION, Defendant.Case No. 91-1208ORDER DENYING MOTION FOR REVIEWEmilio Ortiz asks The Industrial Commission of Utah to review the Administrative Law Judge's decision denying his claim for medical expenses under the Utah Workers' Compensation Act. The Industrial Commission of Utah exercises jurisdiction over this Motion for Review pursuant to Utah Code Ann. '63-46b-12, Utah Code Ann. '35-1-82.53, and Utah Admin. Code R568-1-4.M. BACKGROUND Mr. Ortiz suffered an industrial accident and injury while working at Kennecott on February 19, 1976. He received disability compensation and medical benefits for the period immediately after the industrial accident. Several years later, Mr. Ortiz filed a second claim relating to the 1976 industrial accident, this time for permanent total disability compensation. On March 24, 1986, an ALJ denied Mr. Ortiz' claim because he had failed to establish that his 1976 industrial injury was the medical cause of his alleged permanent total disability. The ALJ's decision was affirmed by the Industrial Commission and upheld on appeal by the Utah Court of Appeals in Ortiz v. Industrial Commission, 766 P.2d 1092 (Utah App. 1989). On November 22, 1991, Mr. Ortiz filed another claim, again for disability compensation and medical expenses from the 1976 industrial injury. The ALJ concluded that Mr. Ortiz' disability claim had already been decided in the earlier proceedings and so dismissed the claim on the basis of res judicata. The ALJ dismissed Mr. Ortiz' claim for current medical expenses because he failed to prove the medical expenses were required to treat the 1976 industrial injury. In his motion for review, Mr...