71 Van Natta 697 (2019)
In the Matter of the Compensation of JIM M. RUDE, Claimant
WCB No. 18-03281
Oregon Worker Compensation
July 2, 2019
Jodie
Phillips Polich, Claimant Attorneys
SAIF
Legal Salem, Defense Attorneys
Reviewing Panel: Members Lanning and Woodford.
ORDER ON REVIEW
Claimant
requests review of Administrative Law Judge (ALJ)
Naugle’s order that upheld the SAIF Corporation’s
denial of claimant’s new/ omitted medical condition
claims for a thoracic spine strain/sprain, an anterior
costochondritis, a posterior costovertebral joint sprain, and
a T7-8 centralized disc protrusion. On review, the issue is
compensability.
We
adopt and affirm the ALJ’s order with the following
supplementation.
In
upholding SAIF’s denial of the claimed conditions, the
ALJ found the opinion of Dr. Ordonez, a neurosurgeon who
examined claimant at his request, unpersuasive. In doing so,
the ALJ reasoned that Dr. Ordonez’s opinion was based
on an inaccurate history concerning the mechanism of injury,
and that he had only examined claimant on one occasion 19
months post injury. Moreover, the ALJ found the opinion of
Dr. Walters, claimant’s attending physician and
occupational medicine specialist, to be most persuasive.
Specifically, the ALJ reasoned that his ability to examine
claimant on the day of the incident, as well as his five
subsequent examinations, provided him with a superior
understanding of claimant’s complaints and examination
findings.
On
review, claimant challenges the ALJ’s evaluation of the
medical evidence. Specifically, he asserts that the opinions
of Dr. Walters and Dr. Bell, a neurologist who examined
claimant at SAIF’s request, are unpersuasive. Moreover,
he contends that Dr. Ordonez provided a well-reasoned opinion
based on complete and accurate information, and is entitled
to deference as a neurosurgeon. For the following reasons, we
affirm the ALJ’s order.
To
establish the compensability of his claimed new/omitted
medical conditions, claimant must prove that the claimed
conditions exist, and that...