In re Compensation of Dickinson, 041919 ORWC, 18-02256

• Case Date: April 19, 2019
• Court: Oregon

71 Van Natta 422 (2019) In the Matter of the Compensation of PAIGE C. DICKINSON, Claimant WCB Nos. 18-02256, 16-05788 Oregon Worker Compensation April 19, 2019           Gatti Law Firm, Claimant Attorneys           SAIF Legal Salem, Defense Attorneys           Reviewing Panel: Members Lanning, Curey, and Wold.           ORDER ON REVIEW          Claimant requests review of Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) Ian Brown’s order that upheld the SAIF Corporation’s denial of claimant’s new/omitted medical condition claim for a neck nerve injury with swelling, impingement, and radiculopathy. On review, the issue is compensability.          We adopt and affirm the ALJ’s order.          ORDER          The ALJ’s order dated September 6, 2018 is affirmed.           Member Lanning dissenting.          I disagree with the majority’s/ALJ’s assessment of the physicians’ opinions. Accordingly, I respectfully dissent.          Although Drs. Angeles and Baker both stated that the work accident was the major contributing cause of claimant’s need for treatment, their opinions as a whole establish that they considered claimant’s work-related nerve injury to be the major contributing cause of the need for treatment for her combined neck condition. For instance, Dr. Angeles described claimant’s work-related condition as a nerve injury that caused swelling and impingement. (Ex. 113). She attributed claimant’s symptoms of radiculopathy to the nerve injury, and related the nerve injury to the work accident. (Ex. 115-24, -25). Similarly, Dr. Baker opined that claimant’s radicular symptoms were caused by a neck nerve injury, which in turn was caused by the work accident. (Ex. 121-9). Under these circumstances, I consider the opinions of Drs. Angeles and Baker to support the compensability of claimant’s combined neck condition.          [71 Van Natta 423] Furthermore, Dr. Lewis, an orthopedic surgeon who examined claimant at...