Wanda J. Wardrep v. Adventure WV, LLC

Summary

The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals affirmed the denial of a request to add a cervical spine injury and related radiculopathy as compensable components of Wanda J. Wardrep’s workers’ compensation claim. The court also upheld the denial of authorization for a cervical spine MRI and neurosurgical evaluation, concluding that the evidence did not establish a work-related cervical injury.

Holdings

1. Wardrep failed to establish that she sustained a compensable cervical spine injury in the course of and resulting from her employment; therefore, the denial of adding the cervical injury to the claim was proper.
2. Because the cervical spine was not established as a compensable body part, authorization for the requested cervical spine treatment was properly denied.
3. The Board of Review's decision was not in clear violation of a constitutional or statutory provision, was not clearly the result of erroneous conclusions of law, and was not based on a material misstatement or mischaracterization of the evidentiary record.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Wardrep established that a cervical spine injury arose in the course of and resulted from her employment and should be added as a compensable component of her workers’ compensation claim.
2. Whether Wardrep was entitled to authorization for a neurosurgical evaluation and cervical spine MRI related to the claimed cervical injury.

Disposition

affirmed