Opinion
Nos. 96-07968; CA A100462.
Argued and submitted September 30, 1998.
Judicial Review from Workers' Compensation Board.
Ridgway K. Foley, Jr., argued the cause for petitioner. With him on the brief were Greene Markley, P.C., Ridgway K. Foley, Jr., P.C., Scott F. Gilman, and Breathouwer Gilman.
Robert W. Pardington argued the cause for respondent. With him on the brief was Pozzi Wilson Atchison LLP.
Before De Muniz, Presiding Judge, and Deits, Chief Judge, and Linder, Judge.
In SAIF v. Falconer, 154 Or. App. 511, 963 P.2d 50 (1998), this court held that a stiff neck is compensable as a mental disorder under ORS 656.802, the occupational disease law. I dissented in Falconer because there was no evidence that the medical or psychological community recognizes a stiff neck as a mental disorder, as required by ORS 656.802 (3)(c).
Here, the majority now holds, on the basis of Falconer, that a herniated disc is a mental disorder. That is an extraordinary conclusion. For the reasons I dissented in Falconer, I dissent here.