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IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF IOWA No. 7-876 / 07-0941 Filed December 28, 2007

PAXTON & VIERLING STEEL COMPANY, A Division of OWEN INDUSTRIES, Plaintiff-Appellant, vs. DONALD HOPE, Defendant-Appellee. ________________________________________________________________

Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Pottawattamie County, James M. Richardson, Judge.

Employer appeals from the district court decision that affirmed the decision of the workers' compensation commissioner finding Donald Hope suffered permanent disability. AFFIRMED.

Jacob J. Peters of Peters Law Firm, P.C., Council Bluffs, and W. Curtis Hewett, Council Bluffs, for appellant. Laura L. Pattermann of Gallner & Pattermann, P.C., Council Bluffs, for appellee.

Considered by Huitink, P.J., and Miller and Eisenhauer, JJ.

2 HUITINK, P.J. Paxton & Vierling Steel Company, a division of Owen Industries, (Paxton) appeals from a district court ruling affirming the workers' compensation commissioner's decision to award Donald Hope benefits. We affirm. I. Background Facts and Prior Proceedings Donald Hope began employment with Paxton in 1983 as a welder. Over the years he progressed to the position of plant manager. On December 21, 2001, Hope injured his back while lifting a steel tub at work. He immediately felt pain in his lower back and left leg. He saw the company physician on

December 26, 2001. The doctor prescribed medication and a physical therapy regimen. An MRI revealed mild degenerative disc disease, small focal midline disc protrusions, and a small generalized disc bulge at L4-L5. The doctor

diagnosed Hope with a lumbar strain. By late January 2002, the doctor stopped the physical therapy, but Hope's "terrible" back and leg pain continued. Despite the daily pain, Hope continued to work. In early September, his back and leg pain increased to the point that he went to the emergency room. Two weeks later, he returned to the company physician, who referred him to a neurosurgeon. The neurosurgeon performed an MRI and discovered a herniated disc at L4-L5 with "obvious L5 nerve root compression." Hope underwent a microlumbar diskectomy surgery to attempt to correct the problem. Hope was off work for approximately five weeks. The

surgery resolved the pain in his leg, but the pain in his lower back persisted. The surgeon opined that Hope had a thirteen-percent permanent impairment as a result of the surgery.

3 Hope's chronic back pain led to severe depression. In the opinion of his treating physicians, his chronic back pain and causally related depression rendered him unemployable. Two vocational rehabilitation counselors also

concluded he was not vocationally employable due to chronic pain and depression. In January 2004 Hope filed a petition with the workers' compensation commissioner requesting an award of benefits based on the December 21, 2001 injury and a September 3, 2002 work-related "exacerbation" of that injury. By December 27, 2004, Hope could no longer deal with the chronic back pain and mental anguish, so he stopped working at Paxton. As of the date of the contested hearing, Hope still remained under the care of his psychiatrist. He had not been physically or mentally capable of

working during the seven months since he had stopped working at Paxon. He also still had difficulty performing the routine activities of daily life. Each

physician causally connected Hope's back injury and subsequent chronic pain syndrome to the work injury. There were no contrary expert opinions. The deputy commissioner issued a ruling concluding Hope's chronic pain and causally related depression rendered him permanently and totally disabled. The deputy noted the medical and psychiatric opinions established a causal connection between the work injury and the depression. The deputy also

concluded Hope's medical expenses were causally related to the work injury. The deputy's decision was upheld on intra-agency appeal and upheld by the district court on judicial review. Paxton now appeals, claiming:

4 I. THERE IS A LACK OF SUBSTANTIAL EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT THE COMMISIONER'S FINDING THAT HOPE'S WORK-RELATED LUMBAR STRAIN OF DECEMBER 21, 2001, CAUSED THE HERNIATED DISC AT L4-L5 THAT HOPE'S SURGEON OPINED IS THE CAUSE OF HOPE'S DISABILITY. II. THERE IS A LACK OF SUBSTANTIAL EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT THE COMMISSIONER'S FINDING THAT HOPE'S LUMBAR STRAIN OF DECEMBER 21, 2001, WAS EXACERBATED BY A WORK-RELATED INJURY ON SEPTEMBER 3, 2002. III. THERE IS A LACK OF SUBSTANTIAL EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT THE COMMISIONER'S FINDING THAT HOPE'S DEPRESSION WAS CAUSED BY HIS WORK-RELATED STRAIN OF DECEMBER 21, 2001. II. Standard of Review Our review of a final agency action is governed by Iowa Code chapter 17A and is confined to correction of errors of law. Iowa Code

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