Elery D. Farley v. Panther Branch Coal Company

Summary

The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals affirmed the Board of Review’s decision denying authorization for a nerve conduction study and refusing to add cubital tunnel syndrome as a compensable condition related to the claimant’s January 7, 2011 injury. The court concluded that the claimant failed to establish a causal connection between the injury and his later elbow symptoms, and that the requested study was not medically necessary. The court issued the decision as a memorandum decision under Rule 21 of the West Virginia Rules of Appellate Procedure.

Holdings

1. Farley failed to establish a causal connection between cubital tunnel syndrome and the January 7, 2011 compensable injury; therefore, cubital tunnel syndrome was properly excluded as a compensable condition.
2. The nerve conduction study was properly denied because it was not medically necessary or related to the compensable injury where cubital tunnel syndrome itself was not a compensable condition.
3. The Board of Review’s decision must be affirmed when it is not in clear violation of a constitutional or statutory provision, does not clearly result from an erroneous conclusion of law, and is not based on a material misstatement or mischaracterization of the evidentiary record.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the Board of Review erred in affirming the denial of adding cubital tunnel syndrome as a compensable condition related to the January 7, 2011 injury.
2. Whether the Board of Review erred in affirming the denial of authorization for a nerve conduction study.

Disposition

affirmed