ANGELA COY
v.
RICHMOND PUBLIC SCHOOLS VIRGINIA ASSOCIATION OF COUNTIES GROUP S, Insurance Carrier
RISK MANAGEMENT PROGRAMS, INC., Claim Administrator
Jurisdiction Claim No. VA00001467062
Claim Administrator File No. RCS301800358790001
Virginia Workers’ Compensation
Virginia In The Workers’ Compensation Commission
March 12, 2021
Date
of Injury: April 16, 2018
Michele S. Lewane, Esquire For the Claimant.
Jonnell Lilly, Esquire For the Defendants.
REVIEW
on the record by Commissioner Marshall, Commissioner Newman,
and Commissioner Rapaport at Richmond, Virginia.
OPINION
NEWMAN
Commissioner
The
claimant requests review of the Deputy Commissioner’s
November 10, 2020 Opinion denying her claim to add the neck
as a compensable body part. We REVERSE.[1]
I.
Material Proceedings
On
April 16, 2018, the claimant sustained a left shoulder injury
memorialized by agreement in a July 12, 2018 Medical Award.
The claimant was awarded temporary total disability on
September 26, 2018.
Before
us are claims seeking to add the neck as a compensable body
part and requesting mileage reimbursement for medical
treatment. The claims were referred for an on-the-record
adjudication.[2] The defendants disputed that the
neck condition was not caused by the April 16, 2018 accident.
In
support of her claims, the claimant cited the medical
opinions of Dr. Kenneth Zaslav, her treating orthopedic
surgeon, and Dr. C. Matthew Gibellato, who treated the
claimant’s left shoulder and neck pain. Both opined
that the claimant’s neck condition was related to her
workplace injury. The Deputy Commissioner discounted their
opinions because she believed they were based upon an
inaccurate medical history. She noted that a June 30, 2020
medical record indicated the claimant had been diagnosed with
cervical spondylosis without myelopathy in 2013 and
cervicalgia in 2015, and inferred from that entry “that
the claimant had treated for her neck before April
2018.” (Op. 10.) The Deputy Commissioner held that the
claimant had not met her burden of proof of a causal
relationship between the neck complaints and her April 16,
2018 industrial accident and denied the claims for a neck
injury and corresponding mileage reimbursement.
The
claimant requests review.
II.
Findings of Fact and Rulings of Law
On
April 16, 2018, the claimant suffered a fall at work while
walking on uneven pavement. She signed an Employee’s
First Report of Injury on April 19, 2018, stating that she
tripped on a sidewalk and fell on her left shoulder, that
x-rays were taken of the left arm, and that an MRI showed a
torn rotator cuff. On May 7, 2018, the claimant began
treating with Dr. Zaslav, orthopedic surgeon, who noted her
chief complaint was the traumatic onset of left humerus pain
that began after she fell on her shoulder. Dr. Zaslav
performed a left rotator cuff repair on June 14, 2018.
On
September 12, 2018, the claimant returned to Dr. Zaslav for a
follow-up appointment. Although her symptoms were improving,
she reported achy, stiff, and laterally located pain. She
also stated she experienced tingling down her left arm to her
hand when she looked down and to the right. Dr. Zaslav
recommended increased physical therapy and that traction be
added “to the [claimant’s] neck for some pinched
nerve symptoms she is...
