Edmiston v. City of Hobbs

1997 NMCA 085, 944 P.2d 883, 123 N.M. 654
CourtNew Mexico Court of Appeals
DecidedJune 17, 1997
Docket17197
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 1997 NMCA 085 (Edmiston v. City of Hobbs) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New Mexico Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Edmiston v. City of Hobbs, 1997 NMCA 085, 944 P.2d 883, 123 N.M. 654 (N.M. Ct. App. 1997).

Opinions

OPINION

BOSSON, Judge.

1. Worker Joyce Edmiston appeals a decision of the Workers’ Compensation Judge (WCJ). She argues that the WCJ misapprehended New Mexico law on preexisting conditions and workplace injuries which led to an incorrect determination of Worker’s benefits. We determine that the WCJ incorrectly applied the law to the facts of this ease, and therefore reverse and remand.

BACKGROUND

2. On September 28, 1994, Worker was a clerk for the City of Hobbs when she tripped and fell into a counter at work, twisting her back. Worker testified that she felt severe pain in her back after she tripped, but was determined to remain at work, although she did restrict her activities. The following day she kept a previously scheduled appointment with Dr. Ward, an oncologist, and told him about the back pain. Dr. Ward arranged for x-rays of the affected area which revealed compression fractures of several vertebrae in her spine. Worker then saw Dr. DuBose whose evaluation of the x-rays led him to suspect multiple myeloma, an incurable form of cancer marked by a thinning of the bones as well as painful lytic lesions on the bones. On October 7, 1994, Worker went to the Arlington Cancer Center in Texas for an examination by Dr. Dicke, a specialist in oncology and hematology, who confirmed the diagnosis of multiple myeloma and arranged for treatment. Worker never returned to her job with the City.

3. Three months later, in January 1995, Worker filed for compensation benefits with the Workers’ Compensation Administration. A WCJ conducted a formal hearing in November 1995. The principal source of medical evidence at the hearing was the deposition of Dr. Dicke. Because of Worker’s condition, Dr. Dicke opted to treat the cancer systemically through chemotherapy before treating the compression fractures conventionally or the bone lesions with radiation because radiation would have interfered with the chemotherapy. Dr. Dicke testified that, although the compression fractures would likely not have affected the natural course of the multiple myeloma, the back injury did cause Worker to be physically more incapacitated because of the increased amount of pain. Dr. Dicke also testified that, based on the bone scan, the multiple myeloma existed at the time of the work injury. Dr. Dicke estimated Worker’s disability at approximately 80% due to the combined effects of the cancer and the compression fractures. At the time of the hearing, Worker was being given dilaudid and morphine to control the back pain.

4. Based on this testimony, the WCJ found that Worker suffered a compression fracture in the spine as a result of the work accident which aggravated the preexisting multiple myeloma; that the accident caused Worker to be more incapacitated than multiple myeloma without a fracture; that the cancer rendered Worker more susceptible to fractures of the spine; and the fracture affected the treatment of the disease due to the amount of pain involved. The WCJ agreed with Dr. Dicke that the cancer was concentrated in the lumbar area, including the area of the fractured vertebrae, and the WCJ observed that Worker was experiencing “a lot of pain in that area” at least at the time that she was first treated at the cancer center. The WCJ awarded temporary total disability from October 7,1994 until February 9, 1995, concluding that Worker had been totally incapacitated from working during that period due to the combination of the fractured vertebrae and the multiple myeloma.

5. The WCJ then determined that the compression fracture had reached maximum medical improvement (MMI)1 on February 9, 1995, based on Dr. Dicke’s assessment that, after a second round of chemotherapy, there would be a waiting period of perhaps two or three years to see if controlling the disease would improve the compression fractures. Evaluating Worker’s condition after MMI to determine permanent partial disability, the WCJ determined that (1) without the multiple myeloma, Worker would have reached MMI from a compression fracture within 8 to 12 weeks after the accident, (2) there had been no additional specific treatment for the fractures since the initial x-rays and none had been recommended for the future, (3) Worker’s current inability to work was a natural and direct result of the multiple myeloma alone and not the compression fracture, and (4) although the multiple myeloma was a preexisting condition it did not constitute a preexisting impairment as there had been no evidence of its existence before the accident.

6. Based on these determinations, the WCJ concluded that Worker was entitled to impairment benefits at only 10% based upon the compression fracture alone and was not entitled to any formula points under NMSA 1978, Sections 52-1-26.1 to -26.4 (Repl. Pamp.1991) because her current inability to work was due solely to the multiple myeloma. Worker appeals from that order. Employer does not challenge the award of temporary total disability.

DISCUSSION

7. Worker argues that the WCJ erred as a matter of law in determining the degree of Worker’s permanent partial disability because the WCJ failed to take into account the combined effect of the workplace injury and her preexisting condition. This case requires us to determine whether the WCJ imposed two new standards to be met by a worker who has a preexisting condition and then sustains a workplace injury: (1) whether the preexisting condition must actually impair the worker prior to the job injury and may not be a mere latent condition, and (2) whether the workplace injury must demonstrably worsen the preexisting condition. Worker contends that the WCJ’s decision runs counter to New Mexico law as reflected in Reynolds v. Ruidoso Racing Ass’n, 69 N.M. 248, 258, 365 P.2d 671, 678 (1961) and Leo v. Cornucopia Restaurant, 118 N.M. 354, 359, 881 P.2d 714, 719 (Ct.App.1994). Before discussing these contentions, we review the applicable legal standard.

Preexisting Condition

8. New Mexico workers’ compensation cases hold that when a preexisting condition combines with a work-related injury to cause a disability, an employee is entitled to benefits commensurate with the total disability sustained; our courts do not apportion workers’ compensation benefits according to different eausal factors as long as the disability is a natural and direct result of the accident as required by the Act (NMSA 1978, Section 52-1-28 (Repl.Pamp.1991)). Reynolds, 69 N.M. at 258, 365 P.2d at 678; Leo, 118 N.M. at 359, 881 P.2d at 719. It does not diminish the worker’s entitlement to benefits that the preexisting condition may make a worker more susceptible to injury, nor does it matter that without the preexisting condition the work-related injury might have been less disabling or perhaps not disabling at all. Reynolds, 69 N.M. at 252-53, 365 P.2d at 674; Leo, 118 N.M. at 359-60, 881 P.2d at 719-20.

9. In defining this principle, both Reynolds and Leo relied upon Professor Larson’s treatise on workmen’s compensation. The following passage from the treatise which was cited in Reynolds bears repeating:

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Edmiston v. City of Hobbs
1997 NMCA 085 (New Mexico Court of Appeals, 1997)

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Bluebook (online)
1997 NMCA 085, 944 P.2d 883, 123 N.M. 654, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/edmiston-v-city-of-hobbs-nmctapp-1997.