Berhow v. Polaris Indus., Inc., 012999 MNWC,

Case DateJanuary 29, 1999
CourtMinnesota
DIANE E. BERHOW, Employee/Appellant,
v.
POLARIS INDUS., INC., SELF-INSURED/SEDGWICK JAMES OF MINN., Employer.
Minnesota Workers Compensation
Workers' Compensation Court of Appeals
January 29, 1999
         HEADNOTES          PERMANENT PARTIAL DISABILITY - DEPRESSION. Substantial evidence supports the compensation judge's decision that the employee did not prove entitlement to a permanent partial disability rating for her depression pursuant to Minn. R. 5223.0360, subp. 7.D.(4), and there was a lack of evidence of objective findings to support a Weber rating.          Affirmed.           Determined by Hefte, J., Wilson, J., and Wheeler, C.J.           Compensation Judge: Carol A. Eckersen           OPINION           RICHARD C. HEFTE, Judge          The employee appeals from the compensation judge's denial of her claim of additional permanent partial disability benefits for her psychological condition. We affirm.          BACKGROUND          Diane E. Berhow, the employee, sustained a work-related injury on June 21, 1995, while working for the self-insured employer, Polaris Industries, Inc. The injury occurred when a pallet fell, hitting the employee's left ankle and breaking open a surgical wound on her left ankle. The employee had a cyst surgically removed from her left ankle a week prior to her work injury. The cyst was not from a work-related incident. A metal staple from the pallet penetrated the wound in the employee's left ankle.           Thereafter, the healing of the wound to the employee's left ankle became a significant and continuing problem. The wound became infected and would not close. In September 1995, her local treating surgeon, Dr. Frederic Taylor, M.D. referred the employee to Dr. Robert Clayburgh of the Grand Forks Clinic. Dr. Clayburgh initially treated the employee by excising the wound in the employee's ankle; however, thereafter the employee's pain and draining from her left ankle continued. On January 29, 1996, Dr. Clayburgh did an exploration and biopsy of the wound area of the employee's the left ankle. Although Dr. James Hargraves of the Infectious Disease Department of the Grand Forks Clinic saw the employee and prescribed a treatment of antibiotics for what he diagnosed as "left leg osteomyelitis," of the employee's left leg, the lack of healing of the employee's wound in her left ankle did not resolve.           In March of 1996, physical therapy was prescribed for the employee's left ankle and she was then seen by Dr. Charles Guernsey for pain management. He diagnosed a left distal dystrophy syndrome, also referred to as reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RSD) syndrome. A sympathetic blockade of the employee's ankle by an indwelling catheter and a percutaneous placement of a lumbar epidural catheter for intermittent bolus of local anesthetics was done and then repeated in June of...

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