Terri Davis v. Roadsafe Holdings, Inc.

Summary

The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals affirmed the Board of Review’s decision upholding the denial of temporary total disability benefits and certain medical benefits in a workers’ compensation claim. The court concluded that the claimant had reached maximum medical improvement, that requested neurology and ophthalmology referrals had already occurred, and that an EEG was not shown to be necessary treatment for a compensable injury. The court issued the decision as a memorandum decision under Rule 21.

Holdings

1. The Board of Review properly affirmed closure of temporary total disability benefits because the weight of the medical evidence supported findings that Davis had reached maximum medical improvement and did not establish ongoing temporary total disability attributable to the compensable injury.
2. The denial of the requested neurology and ophthalmology referrals was properly affirmed because Davis had already received those referrals and evaluations, rendering the protest moot.
3. The denial of authorization for an EEG was properly affirmed because the record did not establish that the EEG was necessary medical treatment for a compensable injury.
4. The Board of Review's decision must be affirmed when it is not in clear violation of a constitutional or statutory provision, not clearly the result of an erroneous conclusion of law, and not based on a material misstatement or mischaracterization of the evidentiary record; the decision met that standard here.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the Board of Review properly affirmed closure of temporary total disability benefits.
2. Whether denial of referrals to neurology and ophthalmology was proper when the requested evaluations had already occurred.
3. Whether denial of authorization for an EEG was proper when the record did not establish that the staring spells evaluated by the EEG were related to a compensable injury.
4. Whether the Board of Review's decision was clearly erroneous under the applicable standard of judicial review.

Disposition

affirmed