RUSSEL TINSLEY
v.
CITY OF NEWPORT NEWS DAWN R REESE, PhD, PLC, Medical Provider
NEWPORT NEWS CITY OF, Insurance Carrier
PMA MANAGEMENT CORP, TPA, Claim Administrator
Jurisdiction Claim No. VA00000714499
Virginia Workers Compensation
Virginia In The Workers' Compensation Commission
June 17, 2021
Date
of Injury: December 12, 2012
Claim
Administrator File No. 0006W41432
Russel
Tinsley Claimant, pro se.
Lindsay L. Blumberg, Esquire For the Defendant.
Philip
J. Geib, Esquire For the Medical Provider.
REVIEW
on the record by Commissioner Marshall, Commissioner Newman,
and Commissioner Rapaport at Richmond, Virginia.
OPINION
RAPAPORT Commissioner
The
medical provider requests review of the Deputy
Commissioner's April 5, 2021 Opinion denying the
defendants' responsibility for payment of healthcare
services rendered to the claimant.
[1] We AFFIRM the denial.
I.
Material Proceedings
The
claimant, a police officer, suffered a compensable injury by
accident. On May 31, 2013, the Commission entered an award
for the payment of lifetime medical benefits for
"fragment in nasal cavity, gunshot wound to face."
On
March 17, 2020 and April 17, 2020, the medical provider filed
applications seeking payment of $3,795.45 for services
rendered to the claimant from October 2, 2013 through October
11, 2019. The medical provider alleged that the treatment
related to the claimant's occupational injury. The
defendants raised numerous defenses against the applications,
including that the statute of limitations provided within
Virginia Code §§ 65.2-601 and 65.2-708 barred a
claim for a psychological condition.
Deputy
Commissioner Wilder conducted an on-the-record hearing on
March 19, 2021. Both parties submitted position statements.
The Deputy Commissioner found that the medical provider's
application was barred by either statute of limitations. He
explained:
In this claim, the Commission has never entered an award of
medical benefits for psychological injuries, including
post-traumatic stress disorder, as the Commission's May
31, 2013 award was limited to physical injuries. The claimant
never filed a claim for psychological injuries either before
or after the entry
...