Opinion
W.C. Nos. 4-549-033, 4-549-035.
September 2, 2004.
FINAL ORDER
The claimant seeks review of an order of Administrative Law Judge Stuber (ALJ) which awarded medical impairment benefits for a cervical injury in W.C. No. 4-549-035 instead of W.C. No. 4-549-033. We affirm.
The ALJ's order was based on the following stipulated facts. The claimant suffered a compensable injury to his lower extremity, which is the subject of W.C. No. 4-549-035. The claimant suffered a cervical injury while traveling to a physical therapy appointment for the lower extremity injury. The claimant sustained 6 percent permanent medical impairment of the right lower extremity and 5 percent whole person impairment as a result of the cervical injury.
The respondents admitted liability for the cervical injury in W.C. No. 4-549-033, but denied liability for any permanent partial disability benefits. In W.C. No. 4-549-035 the respondents admitted liability for a scheduled disability award based upon 16 percent impairment to the right lower extremity.
The sole issue before the ALJ was whether the cervical impairment is a compensable component of W.C. No. 4-549-035 or compensable as a separate injury in W.C. No. 4-549-033. The ALJ rejected the claimant's contention that the issue was controlled by Employers Fire Insurance Company v. Lumbermen's Mutual Casualty Company, 964 P.2d 591 (Colo.App. 1998). Instead, the ALJ determined the case was not significantly distinguishable from Price Mine Service, Inc., v. Industrial Claim Appeals Office, 64 P.3d 936 (Colo.App. 2003), where the court held that injuries sustained during travel to authorized medical treatment for an industrial injury are compensable components of the original industrial injury claim, and not a separate injury claim. Therefore, the ALJ ordered the respondents to pay medical impairment benefits based on 5 percent whole person impairment plus 6 percent impairment of the right lower extremity in W.C. No. 4-549-035, less credits for the scheduled disability benefits previously paid. The claimant timely appealed.
On appeal, the claimant essentially contends Price Mine Service, Inc., v. Industrial Claim Appeals Office, supra, was wrongly decided. In particular, the claimant contends the court erred in finding any pertinent distinction between Price Mine and the circumstances presented in Employers Fire Insurance Company, City of Colorado Springs v. Industrial Claim Appeals Office, 954 P.2d 637 (Colo.App. 1997) and Citadel Mall v. Industrial Claim Appeals Office, 892 P.2d 419 (Colo.App. 1994). We perceive no basis to disturb the ALJ's order.
It is well established that a compensable injury is an injury which bears a causal connection the employment. Staff Administrators Inc., v. Reynolds, 977 P.2d 866 (Colo. 1999). Under the "quasi-course of employment" doctrine, an injury occurring during travel to or from authorized medical treatment is compensable because the employer is required to provide medical treatment for the industrial injury and the claimant is required to submit to the treatment. Jarosinski v. Industrial Claim Appeals Office, 62 P.3d 1082, 1085 (Colo.App. 2002). Therefore, the treatment becomes an implied part of the employment contract, and injuries sustained while attending the authorized medical treatment, are considered to be a consequence of the original industrial injury.
In Employers Fire Insurance Company, the claimant suffered injuries during a motor vehicle accident on the way to obtain authorized medical treatment for a work-related injury. However, the claimant had already settled the work-related injury claim. The PIP carrier brought a subrogation action against the workers' compensation carrier for benefits paid as a result of the injuries sustained in the motor vehicle accident. The court held that the new injuries did not result from the original industrial injury, and thus, the claimant's signed release did not eliminate the workers' compensation carrier's liability to the PIP carrier for amounts paid on account of the motor vehicle accident. The court reasoned that because the new injuries would have provided the basis for a second claim, the injuries sustained in the auto accident did not result from the original industrial injury and were not part of the first claim. The court also refused to distinguish between new injuries suffered while attending authorized medical care and "any other later industrial injury, not resulting from [the claimant's] weakened condition." Id. 870 P.2d at 593, 594.
In Price Mine Service, Inc., v. Industrial Claim Appeals Office, supra, the claimant suffered injuries while traveling to authorized medical treatment for an admitted industrial injury. The Court of Appeals held that the new injuries were compensable components of the original industrial injury under the quasi-course of employment doctrine. In so doing, the court concluded that Employers Fire Insurance Company v. Lumbermen's Mutual Casualty Company, supra; City of Colorado Springs v. Industrial Claim Appeals Office, supra; and Citadel Mall v. Industrial Claim Appeals Office, supra, were distinguishable.
The claimant's arguments notwithstanding, we are bound by the published opinions of the Court of Appeal. C.A.R. 35(f). Further, we agree with the ALJ that the facts presented here are virtually identical to the facts in Price Mine. Consequently, the ALJ did not err in failing to compensate the claimant's permanent medical impairment from the cervical injury as a new separate claim.
IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that the ALJ's order dated, April 13, 2004, is affirmed.
INDUSTRIAL CLAIM APPEALS PANEL
____________________________________ Kathy E. Dean
____________________________________ Robert M. Socolofsky
John Bernal, Colorado Springs, CO, Irma Christie, City of Fountain, Fountain, CO, Marla Myers, CIRSA, Denver, CO, William A. Alexander, Jr., Esq., Colorado Springs, CO, for Claimant.
Susan K. Reeves, Esq., Colorado Springs, CO, for Respondents.