SUMMER JONES
v.
VIRGINIA EPISCOPAL SCHOOL
CINCINNATI INS CO (THE), Insurance Carrier
THE CINCINNATI INS CO, Claim Administrator
Jurisdiction Claim No. VA00001662424
Claim Administrator File No. 3440660 HH
Virginia Workers Compensation
Virginia In The Workers’ Compensation Commission
July 29, 2021
Date
of Injury: October 14, 2019
E.
Albion Armfield, Esquire For the Claimant.
Christopher M. Kite, Esquire For the Defendants.
OPINION
RAPAPORT COMMISSIONER
REVIEW
on the record by Commissioner Marshall, Commissioner Newman,
and Commissioner Rapaport at Richmond, Virginia.
The
claimant requests review of the Deputy Commissioner’s
March 29, 2021 Opinion denying medical benefits for migraine
headaches and temporary partial disability benefits.[1] We AFFIRM
in part, REVERSE in part, and REMAND in part.[2]
I.
Material Proceedings
The
Commission entered a Stipulated Order on March 19, 2021
providing for the payment of medical benefits for a head
injury with associated concussion, tinnitus, vestibular
dysfunction, vertigo, and diplopia. The claimant was awarded
periods of wage loss benefits, including temporary partial
disability benefits from January 9, 2020 through February 1,
2021, the report date of Dr. Seth Tuwiner’s independent
medical evaluation. Pertinent to our inquiry, the claimant
also sought medical benefits for migraine headaches,
including payment of specified medications for the condition,
and temporary partial disability benefits after February 1,
2021. (Cl.’s Pos. S. 1-2.) The defendants defended that
no causal connection existed between the claimant’s
occupational injury and her migraine headaches and any
ongoing disability.
The
Deputy Commissioner conducted an on-the-record hearing on
March 19, 2021. Both parties submitted position statements.
The Deputy Commissioner found that the claimant failed to
meet her burden of proving that the treatment of the migraine
headaches and disability related to the migraines were
causally related to the compensable accident. She afforded
more weight to the...
