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...