In re Compensation of Lohala, 101819 ORWC, 18-03641

Case DateOctober 18, 2019
CourtOregon
71 Van Natta 1203 (2019)
In the Matter of the Compensation of SARAH R. LOHALA, Claimant.
WCB No. 18-03641
Oregon Worker Compensation
October 18, 2019
          Alvey Law Group, Claimant Attorneys           Sather Byerly & Holloway, Defense Attorneys           Reviewing Panel: Members Ousey and Curey.           ORDER ON REVIEW          The self-insured employer requests review of that portion of Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) Pardington’s order that found that claimant’s proposed massage therapy was compensably related to her accepted lumbar strain condition. On review, the issue is medical services. We reverse.          FINDINGS OF FACT          We adopt the ALJ’s “Findings of Fact,” as summarized and supplemented below.          On February 19, 2017 (when she was pregnant), claimant, a registered nurse, sustained a compensable back injury when she was moving a patient. (Ex. 1). She felt pain in her low back radiating into her right leg. (Id.)          Claimant sought treatment that day with Dr. Sahni, an emergency physician, who diagnosed a back strain. (Ex. 1-4).          On March 2, 2017, Dr. Savage, an occupational medicine specialist, assessed a lumbar strain. (Ex. 4-3).          On March 28, 2017, Dr. Savage noted an acute exacerbation in claimant’s right low back with radiation down the back of her right thigh. (Ex. 8). On April 6, 2017, claimant reported to Dr. Savage that acupuncture was helpful, and she denied shooting pain into the distal right lower extremity. (Ex. 9-1).          In mid-April 2017, the employer accepted a lumbar strain. (Ex. 10).          On June 14, 2017, Dr. Batla, a sports medicine physician, diagnosed a low back strain, as well as sacroiliitis and right leg iliotibial band syndrome. (Ex. 13-2, -3). Claimant treated several times with Dr. Batla. (Exs. 14, 16, 18, 20, 21, 23, 27, 32, 40, 43). He noted that claimant’s pain was worsened by her pregnancy. (Ex. 14-2). Claimant reportedly gave birth on July 11, 2017.          [71 Van Natta 1204] An August 10, 2017, MRI showed mild degenerative changes, including facet hypertrophy at T12 through S1, L1-2 minimal circumferential disc bulging with mild left foraminal stenosis, L4-5 circumferential disc bulging with flattening of the ventral thecal sac and with mild to moderate right and mild left foraminal stenosis, and L5-S1 mild circumferential disc bulging with mild to moderate right and mild left foraminal stenosis. (Ex. 17).          On September 20, 2017, Dr. Batla added the diagnosis of “intervertebral disc disorders with radiculopathy, lumbar region.” (Ex. 21).          On November 6, 2017, Dr. Rosenbaum, a neurosurgeon who examined claimant at the employer’s request, assessed preexisting lumbar spondylosis and the compensable lumbar strain. (Ex. 26-8). Dr. Rosenbaum attributed claimant’s ongoing symptoms to preexisting spondylosis, as the lumbar strain had “reasonably resolved.” (Id.) He considered the lumbar strain to adequately encompass her work injury pathology. (Ex. 26-8, -9). He opined that claimant’s condition was medically stationary with no objective evidence of impairment “on an industrial basis.” (Ex. 26-9). Although he concluded that claimant had more protracted symptomatology than one would reasonably expect from a lumbar strain or underlying degenerative spondylosis, Dr. Rosenbaum concluded that the only diagnosis referable to the event was the “strain” and that it had recently resolved. (Id.) He clarified that claimant’s findings on MRI at multiple levels were preexisting degenerative...

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