Santa Barbara Chamber ‘ Orchestra Society; State Ii 9 Compensation Insurance Fund Elizabeth Minnis WORKERS-COMPENSATION APPEALS BOARDSTATE OF CALIFORNIAELIZABETH MINNIS, Applicant,vs.SANTA BARBARA CHAMBER ORCHESTRA SOCIETY; STATE Ii COMPENSATION INSURANCE FUND, Defendant(s).Case No. ADJ4043236OPINION AND ORDER DENYING PETITION FOR RECONSIDERATION Applicant seeks reconsideration of the June 17, 2010 Findings and Order, wherein the workers’ compensation administrative law judge (WCJ) denied applicant’s request for medical treatment (epidural steroid injection). I The parties stipulated that applicant, while employed as a manager on April 24, 2007, sustained industrial injury to her low back. Applicant contends the WCJ erred in denying her request, arguing that the law allows treatment that “relieves” the injured worker from the effects of her injury and that she should not be forced into more aggressive care, i.e., surgery, when less invasive and less expensive care is available and efficacious. We have considered the Petition for Reconsideration and defendant’s Answer, and we have reviewed the record in this matter. The WCJ prepared a Report on Reconsideration (Report), recommending that the petition be denied. For the reasons expressed by the WCJ in his Report, which we adopt and incorporate, and for the reasons discussed below, we will deny applicant’s petition for reconsideration. It is applicant’s burden to prove that the treatment she seeks is reasonable and necessary. The only evidence offered in support of her request is the unsigned December 28, 2009 progress note dictated by physician’s assistant Mark Jamali-Ashtiani and the letter of January 12, 2010, also , dictated by Mr. Jamali-Ashtiani and apparently signed by Dr. R. Michael Hullander (Applicant’s Exhibit 1). The December 28, 2009 progress note reports that applicant’s October 23, 2009 epidural steroid injection (ESI) resulted in 50%
