A.G. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Shreveport, LA (Board decision, August 4, 2014)

ECAB remand decision and order. The Board set aside OWCP’s December 3, 2013 denial because OWCP had not reviewed medical reports received before that decision. OWCP must consider the reports and issue an appropriate new decision; the underlying occupational disease claim remains unresolved. Under 20 C.F.R. § 501.6(d), this Board order becomes final 30 days after issuance. A party may petition the Board for reconsideration within 30 days unless this order specifies another period, under 20 C.F.R. § 501.7(a). FECA compensation decisions are generally not subject to court review under 5 U.S.C. § 8128(b).

Plain-English summary

A.G., a medical support assistant, claimed carpal tunnel syndrome from typing and telephone work. She submitted physician reports that noted a carpal tunnel diagnosis. OWCP denied the claim the next day, stating that it had received no medical evidence. The Board found that the reports had reached OWCP before the denial and should have been reviewed. It set aside the decision and returned the claim for consideration of the reports and any needed development.

Decision snapshot

• Authority: Board review of the OWCP record, 20 C.F.R. § 501.2(c).
• Outcome: Claim denial set aside; case remanded for consideration of medical reports.
• Key point: OWCP had to review evidence received before issuing its decision.

Full text (ECAB public release)

United States Department of Labor
Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

________
)
A.G., Appellant
)
)
and ) Docket No. 14-687
) Issued: August 4, 2014
DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS,
)
VETERANS ADMINISTRATION MEDICAL
)
CENTER, Shreveport, LA, Employer
)
__________ )

Appearances: Case Submitted on the Record
Appellant, pro se
Office of Solicitor, for the Director

ORDER REMANDING CASE

Before:
PATRICIA HOWARD FITZGERALD, Acting Chief Judge COLLEEN DUFFY KIKO, Judge
ALEC J. KOROMILAS, Alternate Judge

On February 6, 2014 appellant filed a timely application for review of a December 3, 2013 decision by the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP) denying her claim for an occupational disease. The Board docketed the appeal as No. 14-687. Having reviewed the case record submitted by OWCP, the Board finds that this case is not in posture for decision.

On October 25, 2013 appellant, then a 43-year-old medical support assistant, filed an occupational disease claim alleging that she suffered from carpal tunnel syndrome as a result of working with her hands typing on the computer and dialing the telephone. By letter dated November 1, 2013, OWCP informed her that the documentation received was insufficient to support her claim and asked appellant to submit further information, including medical evidence supporting that she has a medical diagnosis and explaining how her employment activities caused, contributed to, or aggravated her medical condition. In response to this letter, appellant submitted various documents, including form reports by Dr. Charles P. Werner, appellant’s treating Board-certified internist, dated January 25, May 16 and September 16, 2013. These reports documented routine office visits and noted diagnoses of chronic neck pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, gastroesophageal reflux disease, obesity and allergies. Dr. Werner’s reports were received by OWCP on December 2, 2013. By decision dated December 3, 2013, OWCP denied appellant’s claim for compensation. It indicated in its decision that it had not received any medical evidence in appellant’s case. Accordingly, OWCP denied appellant’s claim, finding that she failed to provide medical evidence that established that a medical condition had been diagnosed in connection with the claimed event or employment factors.

As the Board’s jurisdiction of a case is limited to reviewing that evidence that was before OWCP at the time of its final decision,1 it is necessary that OWCP review all the evidence submitted by a claimant and received by OWCP prior to the issuance of its final decision.2 OWCP made no mention of Dr. Werner’s reports, and in fact, indicated that no medical evidence was received.

The Board finds that this case is not in posture for decision as OWCP did not review all the relevant evidence before issuing its decision. The case is remanded for consideration of the submitted evidence, to be followed by any necessary further development and an appropriate decision.

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT the decision of the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs dated December 3, 2013 is set aside, and the case is remanded for further development consistent with this order.

Issued: August 4, 2014
Washington, D.C.

Patricia Howard Fitzgerald, Acting Chief Judge Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

Colleen Duffy Kiko, Judge
Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

Alec J. Koromilas, Alternate Judge
Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

1
20 C.F.R. § 501.2(c).
2
See William A. Couch, 41 ECAB 548 (1990).

2