Court Opinion

ID: 9581118
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 22:11:46.610707+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:36:42.659947
License: Public Domain

McGRAW, Justice,
dissenting:
There is absolutely nothing in Brogan that conflicts with the second paragraph of West Virginia Code § 23-4-8 (1985 Replacement Vol.). In Brogan, 327 S.E.2d at 698, this Court observed that, “Proper development of medical facts may, and often does, require examinations and evaluations by physicians representing more than one medical specialty.” In Syllabus Point 1 of Brogan, this Court held in part that, “The Legislature in enacting W. Va. Code, 23-4-8, intended to grant a claimant and an employer the right to select one, but only one, physician to examine and evaluate a claimant for each medical examination and evaluation conducted by such neutral physician independently selected by the Commissioner.” Thus, Brogan contemplated that, indeed, in circumstances involving more than one medical specialty, a claimant would be “required to undergo a medical examination or examinations by a physi*491cian or physicians selected by the employer” under West Virginia Code § 23-4-8 (1985 Replacement Vol.). This same fundamental flaw in the majority’s reasoning appears with respect to its pari materia reading of West Virginia Code § 23-4-7a(e) (1985 Replacement Vol.).
The implication that this Court somehow overlooked the second paragraph of West Virginia Code § 23-4-8 (1985 Replacement Vol.) in Brogan is patently absurd. See Brogan, 174 W.Va. at 520-21, 327 S.E.2d at 698. It is obvious from its lack of cogent analysis that the majority grasps at straws in its emasculation of Brogan. The superficiality of the majority’s discussion of the one physician per speciality rule in the instant proceeding stands in stark contrast to the thoughtful disquisition contained in Brogan. Particularly troubling is the majority’s complete failure to address the practical impact of its departure from Brogan in light of the clear applicability of the doctrine of stare decisis.
“The principle of stare decisis,” as this Court observed in Dailey v. Bechtel Corp., 157 W.Va. 1023, 1028-29, 207 S.E.2d 169, 173 (1974), “is firmly rooted in our jurisprudence. Uniformity and continuity in law are necessary.” This Court further noted in Dailey v. Bechtel Corp., 157 W.Va. at 1029, 207 S.E.2d at 173 that, “[Djeviation from its application should not occur absent some urgent and compelling reason.” See also Adkins v. St. Francis Hospital, 149 W.Va. 705, 718, 143 S.E.2d 154, 162 (1965). The contemporaneousness of the decision in Brogan strengthens its protection by the concept of stare decisis. “If the doctrine of stare decisis is to play any judicial role,” stated this Court in Dailey v. Bechtel Corp., 157 W.Va. 1029, 207 S.E.2d at 173, “we cannot overrule a decision so recently rendered without any evidence of changing conditions or serious judicial error.”
No urgent and compelling reasons have been given by the majority for overruling Brogan. In fact, the only reason given by the majority, Brogan’s conflict with the second paragraph of West Virginia Code § 23-4-8 (1985 Replacement Vol.), is clearly wrong. Moreover, there is no discussion in the majority opinion of any evidence of changing conditions or serious judicial error resulting in burdensome execution of its mandate. With respect to the application of the doctrine of stare decisis, the message of the majority opinion is undeniably clear. Analysis of the persuasiveness of established precedent in this jurisdiction is more compositional than rational.
The practical effect of the majority’s departure from Brogan is immediate restoration of the practice of mandating that many workers seeking disability benefits run an' often excruciating gauntlet of superfluous medical examinations in order to prevail. Especially for workers seeking benefits for pneumoconiosis or back injuries, the process can be described as nothing less than physical and psychological torture. The majority opinion speaks of a “reasonable number” of medical examinations, overlooking that, at a minimum, Brogan still permitted three examinations for each medical speciality, one by the commissioner’s physician, one by the employer’s physician, and one by the claimant’s physician. The majority opinion gives absolutely no indication of when examination by more than three specialists would be appropriate. Therefore, no guidance is given the commissioner with respect to the promulgation of rules and regulations to implement this amorphous “reasonable number” standard. Shifting this burden to the commissioner demonstrates that President Harry S Truman’s willingness to accept the fact that, “The buck stops here,” is not shared by a majority of this Court.
The compassion and concern for the injured worker reflected in the decision in Brogan is conspicuously absent from the majority opinion. In reality, the workers’ compensation system has been twisted into the attorneys’ and physicians’ compensation system. The decision in Brogan threatened these “professional” beneficiaries. They reacted almost immediately with unquestionably self-motivated swiftness to secure a return to “business as usual.” Where “business as usual,” however, means balancing the personal affluence of professionals on the backs of the *492injured working people of this State, I must dissent.