Court of Appeals Affirms District Court Opinion Reversing Commissioner and Finding That Claimant Proved a Second Qualifying Loss
In Buttrey v. Second Injury Fund of Iowa , No. 1-678 (Iowa App. Oct. 5, 2011), the court of appeals affirmed the action of the district court, which had reversed the decision of the commissioner and found that claimant had established a second qualifying injury for second injury fund purposes. The district court had concluded that the commissioner's election to give more weight to one of two competing expert opinions was based on facts that were incorrect and not supported by the record. The district court had specifically found that additional reasons would need to be given for choosing Dr. Reagen's opinion over that of Dr. Koenig. The court of appeals discusses the facts in the case in some detail, and recites the district court's decision finding that Dr. Koenig had clearly indicated that the second injury was work related, while Dr. Reagen had only found that there was no causation based on a description of claimant's symptoms from defendants' attorney. Th