STATE OF WEST VIRGINIA
 

SUPREME COURT OF APPEALS FILED 

February 3, 2015 

RORY L. PERRY II, CLERK 

SANDRA J. ADAMS, SUPREME COURT OF APPEALS 

OF WEST VIRGINIA 

Claimant Below, Petitioner 

vs.) No. 14-0385 (BOR Appeal Nos. 2048952 & 2048986) 

(Claim No. 2013023262) 

WHEELING HOSPITAL, INC., 

Employer Below, Respondent 

MEMORANDUM DECISION 

Petitioner Sandra J. Adams, by Jonathan C. Bowman, her attorney, appeals the decision 

of the West Virginia Workers’ Compensation Board of Review. Wheeling Hospital, Inc., by 

Jennifer B. Hagedorn, its attorney, filed a timely response. 

This appeal arises from the Board of Review’s Final Order dated March 24, 2014, in 

which the Board affirmed November 13, 2013, and October 31, 2013, Orders of the Workers’ 

Compensation Office of Judges. In its November 13, 2013, Order, the Office of Judges affirmed 

the claims administrator’s June 4, 2013, decision denying reopening of the claim for temporary 

total disability benefits. In its October 31, 2013, Order, the Office of Judges affirmed the claims 

administrator’s June 25, 2013, decision denying authorization for right rotator cuff repair. The 

Court has carefully reviewed the records, written arguments, and appendices contained in the 

briefs, and the case is mature for consideration. 

This Court has considered the parties’ briefs and the record on appeal. The facts and legal 

arguments are adequately presented, and the decisional process would not be significantly aided 

by oral argument. Upon consideration of the standard of review, the briefs, and the record 

presented, the Court finds no substantial question of law and no prejudicial error. For these 

reasons, a memorandum decision is appropriate under Rule 21 of the Rules of Appellate 

Procedure. 

Ms. Adams worked as a cleaning attendant for Wheeling Hospital, Inc. On February 27, 

2013, she injured her right shoulder when she tripped on a cart and fell. On that day, Ms. Adams 

was treated at Wheeling Hospital for right shoulder pain and rotator cuff strain, and she was 

placed on modified duty with no heavy lifting. The following day, Ms. Adams was examined by 

Ross A. Tennant, F.N.P. He released Ms. Adams to return to work without restrictions because 

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she indicated that her right shoulder discomfort had significantly decreased after she applied heat 

to the site of the injury. Ms. Adams also indicated that she was ready to return to work. The 

claims administrator held the claim compensable. Ms. Adams was then treated by E. Fritz 

Braunlich, M.D., who diagnosed her with osteoarthritis of the shoulder, which involved the 

acromioclavicular joint. He found that this restricted her ability to lift her shoulder. He also 

suspected that this condition had caused right rotator cuff syndrome in both shoulders and 

possibly a rotator cuff tear in the right shoulder. An MRI was then taken of Ms. Adams’s right 

shoulder, which revealed a tear of the supraspinatus tendon of the rotator cuff. Based on this 

MRI, Dr. Braunlich recommended that Ms. Adams undergo a right arthroscopic rotator cuff 

repair. Ms. Adams was then treated at the direction of the claims administrator by C. Clark 

Milton, D.O., who agreed with Dr. Braunlich that Ms. Adams’s ongoing shoulder problems were 

related to tendinopathy and shoulder disease instead of the compensable shoulder strain. Zaveen 

Kureishy, M.D., also treated Ms. Adams and found that she was temporarily and totally disabled 

as a result of her shoulder problems. He found that her need for right shoulder surgery was 

related to her work injury. On June 4, 2013, the claims administrator denied reopening her claim 

for temporary total disability benefits. Following this denial, M. Kenamond, M.D., reviewed Ms. 

Adams’s records and determined that Dr. Braunlich’s recommendation that she undergo surgery 

was related to non-compensable and pre-existing conditions. On June 25, 2013, the claims 

administrator denied authorization for right rotator cuff repair. On October 31, 2013, the Office 

of Judges affirmed the claims administrator’s June 25, 2013, decision. On November 13, 2013, 

the Office of Judges also affirmed the claims administrator’s June 4, 2013, decision. The Board 

of Review affirmed both Orders of the Office of Judges on March 24, 2014, leading Ms. Adams 

to appeal. 

In its October 31, 2013, Order, the Office of Judges concluded that the requested right 

rotator cuff repair was not for an injury received in the course of and resulting from Ms. Adams’s 

employment. The Office of Judges determined that the surgery was related to a tear of the 

supraspinatus tendon of the right shoulder, which was not a compensable condition of the claim. 

It noted that Dr. Braunlich diagnosed Ms. Adams with a right rotator cuff tear and related the 

surgery to that diagnosis. However, it also found that the rotator cuff tear was related to 

osteoarthritis instead of the compensable injury. The Office of Judges based this determination 

on the opinion of Dr. Milton. The Office of Judges also determined that the remainder of the 

record indicated that the request for rotator cuff surgery was related to non-compensable 

conditions. 

In its November 13, 2013, Order, the Office of Judges concluded that Ms. Adams had not 

established that she was unable to return to employment because of her compensable injury. The 

Office of Judges found that Ms. Adams had not shown that there had been a progression or 

aggravation of her compensable injury. The Office of Judges found that Dr. Kureishy’s report 

showed that Ms. Adams’s continuing disability was related to her right rotator cuff tear and not a 

compensable condition of the claim. The Office of Judges found that any continuing disability 

Ms. Adams was experiencing was not due to the compensable injury. The Board of Review 

adopted the findings of the Office of Judges and affirmed both Orders. 

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We agree with the conclusions of the Board of Review and the findings of the Office of 

Judges. Ms. Adams has not demonstrated that the requested right shoulder rotator cuff repair is 

medically related and reasonably required to treat her compensable injury. The treatment notes of 

Dr. Milton show that Ms. Adams’s February 27, 2013, injury was limited to a shoulder strain. 

Her need for the requested surgery is not related to this condition. Dr. Braunlich’s treatment 

notes show that the surgery is related to a rotator cuff tear that was caused by osteoarthritis and 

tendinopathy, which are not compensable conditions of the claim. Ms. Adams also has not 

demonstrated that she is entitled to have her claim reopened for additional temporary total 

disability benefits. The evidence in the record does not tend to justify an inference that there has 

been a progression or aggravation of her compensable injury. Harper v. State Workmen’s Comp. 

Comm’r, 160 W. Va. 364, 370, 234 S.E.2d 779, 783 (1977). The record shows that Ms. Adams 

suffered a minor rotator cuff strain on February 27, 2013, and was able to return to work without 

restrictions on the following day. There is not sufficient evidence in the record relating her 

current disability to this injury, especially considering that Dr. Braunlich and Dr. Milton both 

relate her ongoing conditions to osteoarthritis, which is not caused by the compensable injury. 

For the foregoing reasons, we find that the decision of the Board of Review is not in clear 

violation of any constitutional or statutory provision, nor is it clearly the result of erroneous 

conclusions of law, nor is it based upon a material misstatement or mischaracterization of the 

evidentiary record. Therefore, the decision of the Board of Review is affirmed. 

Affirmed. 

ISSUED: February 3, 2015 

CONCURRED IN BY: 

Chief Justice Margaret L. Workman 

Justice Robin J. Davis 

Justice Brent D. Benjamin 

Justice Allen H. Loughry II 

DISSENTING: 

Justice Menis E. Ketchum 

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