Opinion
Record No. 1598-94-4
Decided: January 3, 1995
FROM THE VIRGINIA WORKERS' COMPENSATION COMMISSION
(J. Mark DeBord; Hunton Williams, on brief), for appellants. Appellants submitting on brief.
(Jerry O. Talton, on brief), for appellee. Appellee submitting on brief.
Present: Chief Judge Moon, Judges Benton and Coleman
Pursuant to Code Sec. 17-116.010 this opinion is not designated for publication.
Philip Morris, Inc. and its insurer (hereinafter collectively referred to as "employer") appeal a decision of the Workers' Compensation Commission awarding temporary total disability benefits to Helen M. Willis beginning September 10, 1992. Employer contends that (1) Willis is not entitled to a resumption of benefits because her inability to perform sedentary work is caused by her addiction to narcotic drugs prescribed by an unauthorized physician; (2) Willis failed to prove that her disability, beginning in September 1992, was causally related to her May 26, 1987, injury by accident; and (3) the case should be remanded to the commission to consider whether Willis cured her 1991 refusal to cooperate with vocational rehabilitation. Finding no error, we affirm the commission's decision.
I. Unauthorized Medical Treatment
An issue that is not disputed before the commission will not be considered on appeal. Green v. Warwick Plumbing Heating Corp., 5 Va. App. 409, 413, 364 S.E.2d 4, 6 (1988). See also Rule 5A:18.
Employer did not contend before the commission that Willis was not entitled to a resumption of benefits because she sought and received treatment from an unauthorized physician. Accordingly, we will not consider this issue for the first time on appeal.
II. Disability/Causation
On appellate review, we construe the evidence in the light most favorable to the party prevailing below. R.G. Moore Bldg. Corp. v. Mullins, 10 Va. App. 211, 212, 390 S.E.2d 788, 788 (1990). "The actual determination of causation is a factual finding that will not be disturbed on appeal if there is credible evidence to support the finding." Ingersoll-Rand Co. v. Musick, 7 Va. App. 684, 688, 376 S.E.2d 814, 817 (1989).
In holding that Willis proved that her disability was causally related to her May 26, 1987, injury by accident, the commission stated:
Both Dr. Adelaar and Dr. Eelma conclude that the claimant has remained totally disabled since September 1992. Dr. Holland similarly stated that the claimant would work if she were able to do so. In deposition testimony, Dr. Adelaar made it clear that he felt the claimant was able to resume some type of sedentary employment from an orthopedic standpoint. However, given her dependency on medication prescribed to treat her injury-related pain, he opined that she would require drug dependency treatment before returning to the work force in any capacity. Inasmuch as her drug dependency stems from the use of medication prescribed for pain resulting from her accident, her inability to return to work is causally related to her injury by accident.
Because the uncontradicted opinions of Drs. Adelaar and Eelma, with regard to causation and disability, provide sufficient credible evidence to support the commission's findings, we cannot say as a matter of law that the commission erred in awarding temporary total disability benefits to Willis beginning September 10, 1992.
III. Cure of Refusal to Cooperate with Vocational Rehabilitation
We affirm the commission's finding that Willis proved causally-related total disability from work beginning September 10, 1992. Thus, we have no cause to remand this case to the commission to consider whether Willis cured her 1991 refusal to cooperate with vocational rehabilitation.
For the reasons stated, we affirm the commission's decision.
Affirmed.