2024 UT App 85 THE UTAH COURT OF APPEALS STAGE DEPARTMENT STORE AND NEW HAMPSHIRE INSURANCE COMPANY, Petitioners and Cross-respondents, v. SHELLY MAGNUSON, Respondent and Cross-petitioner, v. LABOR COMMISSION, Respondent. Opinion No. 20220825-CA Filed June 6, 2024 Original Proceeding in this Court Eric J. Pollart, Attorney for Petitioners and Cross-respondents Jay K. Barnes and Virginius Dabney, Attorneys for Respondent and Cross-petitioner JUDGE DAVID N. MORTENSEN authored this Opinion, in which JUDGES GREGORY K. ORME and AMY J. OLIVER concurred. MORTENSEN, Judge: ¶1 Shelly Magnuson fell at work and suffered injuries. She made a claim for workers’ compensation benefits, ultimately claiming that she was permanently disabled. In light of her years- long history of significant pain complaints and a material dispute in medical opinions from various physicians concerning her diagnosis and the cause or causes of her symptoms, a medical panel was appointed. Subsequently, an administrative law judge (ALJ) confirmed a period of temporary disability but otherwise largely ruled against Magnuson, whereupon she sought review with the Appeals Board of the Utah Labor Commission (Appeals Stage v. Labor Commission Board). The Appeals Board confirmed the ALJ’s determinations but extended the term of temporary disability by one year. Both the employer and Magnuson brought petitions for judicial review. We decline to disturb the order of the Appeals Board. BACKGROUND 1 Pre-accident Medical Conditions ¶2 Magnuson has suffered for many years from “chronic pain symptoms affecting various parts of her body, including her back, joints, arms, and legs.” In 2010, a doctor described her as having an “off and on” history over the previous ten years with Sweet’s syndrome, which caused “pain in her back, arms and legs.” Magnuson was also diagnosed with Hashimoto’s disease and fibromyalgia and had undergone several surgeries to her lower leg for an Achilles tendon injury. Magnuson’s pain, “primarily in [her] lower extremities,” continued for several years. While the cause was unknown, the pain was associated with Sweet’s syndrome. Following several years of increased dosages of pain medication—reaching a point where they no longer provided “relief for her chronic pain diagnosis,” Magnuson’s primary care physician referred her to a pain-management expert, Dr. Spencer Wells. In her initial visits with Dr. Wells, Magnuson described “low-back pain, joint pain, . . . joint swelling, leg pain, muscle cramps, muscle pain, and muscle weakness.” Dr. Wells prescribed her a “new pain-medication regimen for what [Magnuson] 1. “In reviewing an order from the Commission, we view the facts in the light most favorable to the Commission’s findings and recite them accordingly.” C.R. England v. Labor Comm’n, 2021 UT App 108, n.1, 501 P.3d 109 (cleaned up). As such, our recitation of the facts and quotations are largely drawn from the Appeals Board’s order. 20220825-CA 2 2024 UT App 85 Stage v. Labor Commission described as pain over her entire body and bilateral leg pain rated at a seven” out of ten. ¶3 In May 2014, just over six months before the accident at issue in this case, Dr. Wells diagnosed Magnuson with …
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