CHRIS N. ERICKSON, Employee/Appellant,
v.
QWEST CORP. and SEDGWICK CLAIMS MGMT SERVS., Employer- Insurer/Respondents,
and
INJURED WORKERS PHARMACY, Intervenor.
No. WC19-6276
Minnesota Workers Compensation
Workers' Compensation Court of Appeals
October 24, 2019
MEDICAL
TREATMENT & EXPENSE - REASONABLE & NECESSARY.
Substantial evidence in the record, including well-founded
medical opinion, supports the compensation judge's denial
of payment for ongoing 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 his discretion in relying on expert medical opinions,
including the opinion of a court-ordered neutral physician,
where those opinions had adequate foundation and were
consistent with the judge's factual findings regarding
the employee's condition.
Charles M. Cochrane, Cochrane Law Office, P.A., Roseville,
Minnesota, for the Appellant.
Craig
B. Nichols and Kristine Pasowicz Wobig, Hansen, Dordell,
Bradt, Odlaug & Bradt, P.L.L.P., St. Paul, Minnesota, for
the Respondent.
Determined by: Deborah K. Sundquist, Judge, Patricia J.
Milun, Chief Judge, Gary M. Hall, Judge
Compensation Judge: William J. Marshall
Affirmed.
OPINION
DEBORAH K. SUNDQUIST, Judge.
The
employee appeals the compensation judge's findings
related to the nature and extent, cause, and compensability
of medical treatment related to his alleged complex regional
pain syndrome. As substantial evidence supports the
compensation judge's findings, we affirm.
BACKGROUND
Before
Chris Erickson, the employee, began working at Qwest
Corporation (Qwest), the employer, he had a history of low
back and left leg pain following a car accident in the 1980s.
He treated with David Pautz, M.D., conservatively with
Tylenol until July 1999 when Vicodin, an opioid medication,
was prescribed for his continued low back pain. (Ex. 13.)
In
August 2000, Qwest hired the employee to work as a
maintenance technician. From 2000 to 2004, the employee
worked primarily outdoors as a span technician. He traveled
to various locations to repair and install wiring. The job
required climbing ladders and telephone poles as well as
working with underground cables. He would stand, sit, kneel
and crouch when working with underground cables. The span
technician job was seasonal with winter layoffs. In September
2003, the employee saw Dr. Pautz and reported pain in both
feet, left greater than right. Dr. Pautz diagnosed the
condition as metatarsalgia. In December 2003, Dr. Pautz
directed the employee to increase his activity in order to
lose weight. The employee indicated that he began climbing
stairs each day when at work and walking a total of five to
six miles daily. Dr. Pautz referred the employee to a
podiatrist, Steven Kiester D.P.M., who examined the employee
in January 2004. Dr. Kiester diagnosed the...
