Colonna v. Marlboro Park Hospital

745 S.E.2d 128, 404 S.C. 537
CourtCourt of Appeals of South Carolina
DecidedApril 17, 2013
DocketAppellate Case No. 2011-196407; Nos. 5117
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 745 S.E.2d 128 (Colonna v. Marlboro Park Hospital) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of South Carolina primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Colonna v. Marlboro Park Hospital, 745 S.E.2d 128, 404 S.C. 537 (S.C. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

WILLIAMS, J.

In this workers’ compensation appeal, Loida Colonna (Colonna) claims the circuit court erred in affirming the Appellate Panel of the Workers’ Compensation Commission (the Commission) when it: (1) held Colonna’s recovery was limited to scheduled disability under section 42-9-30 of the South Carolina Code (Supp.2012) as opposed to total disability under section 42-9-10 of the South Carolina Code (Supp.2012); (2) held Colonna did not suffer from any additional permanent partial disability; (3) held Colonna had reached maximum medical improvement (MMI); and (4) failed to explicitly hold Marlboro Park Hospital (Marlboro Park) responsible for lifetime maintenance of the spinal cord stimulator implanted in Colonna’s back. We affirm.

FACTS/PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Colonna sustained an admittedly compensable injury to her right ankle and foot on February 21, 2004, when she slipped [541]*541on a wet floor and twisted her right ankle and foot while working as a geriatric nurse for Marlboro Park. Marlboro Park accepted her claim and began providing medical treatment and compensation. However, Colonna continued to experience pain and ceased working as a result of her injury. Colonna claimed she required surgery; in response, Marlboro Park sought a determination of whether Colonna had reached MMI and was entitled to additional medical treatment.

The single commissioner held a hearing and subsequently issued an order on August 22, 2005 (2005 Order), finding Colonna sustained “a right lower extremity (ankle) injury,” was entitled to additional medical treatment and temporary total disability benefits, and had not reached MMI. In addition, the single commissioner found Colonna “had some aggravation of pre-existing psychological problems because of this injury, but she ... failed to prove her need for psychological treatment [wa]s the sole result of this accidental injury.”

Because of her continuing medical issues, Colonna underwent surgery shortly after the initial hearing in May 2005. In March 2006, her attending surgeon, Dr. Mark Easley, of Duke University Medical Center, opined her condition had stabilized, assigned an impairment rating of 40% to her right lower extremity, and released her from his care. Based on Dr. Easley’s report, Marlboro Park sought an order terminating temporary compensation, awarding permanent disability, and requesting a credit for overpayment of temporary compensation. In response, Colonna contended she had not reached MMI and requested additional medical treatment for her injuries.

After a hearing, the single commissioner issued an order on May 8, 2007 (2007 Order), and found Colonna reached MMI in March 2006, sustained a 50% permanent partial disability to her right lower extremity, and was entitled to all causally-related medical treatment for her injuries. The single commissioner terminated her temporary compensation and found Marlboro Park was entitled to a credit for overpayment of temporary compensation, which would be deducted from her permanent partial disability award of 97.5 weeks. In addition, the single commissioner held the compensability of any psychological injury was not before him based on the parties’ [542]*542prior stipulation in the 2005 Order that Colonna had not sustained a compensable psychological injury. The Commission upheld the single commissioner’s order in full, and Colonna did not appeal this order.

Thereafter, Colonna complained of continued problems with her right ankle and foot and filed a change of condition claim, seeking additional medical treatment, including a second surgery. Marlboro Park authorized the additional treatment and reinstated her temporary total disability compensation. Colonna underwent a second surgery with Dr. Easley on her right ankle. From an orthopedic standpoint, Dr. Easley concluded Colonna had reached MMI for her right ankle and foot in July 2008 and assessed a 35% impairment rating.

Colonna then sought medical treatment from Dr. Sonia Pasi, a pain management and neurology specialist, at Duke University Medical Center. Dr. Pasi diagnosed her with Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD),1 which caused chronic pain to Colonna’s right foot and ankle, resulting from her compensable right foot and ankle injury. In August 2008, Dr. Pasi implanted a trial spinal stimulator to help alleviate her RSD. Following a successful trial period, Dr. Pasi and Dr. Peter Grossi implanted a permanent spinal cord stimulator in Colonna’s back in December 2008. Dr. Pasi opined she was at MMI for her right leg and foot in March 2009.

Colonna subsequently underwent a functional capacity evaluation (FCE) in April 2009, which found she was able to work at a light physical demand level for an eight-hour day and was “most likely limited to simple, or unskilled, or at most, detailed, or semi-skilled clerical administrative and similar work activities.... ” In conducting the FCE, the evaluator noted, “The combination of symptom exaggeration and submaximal effort is thought to represent a voluntary effort to demonstrate a greater level of disability than is actually present.”

[543]*543Marlboro Park again filed a Form 21 to stop payment of temporary total disability benefits and sought a determination for permanent impairment as well as a credit for overpayment of temporary compensation. In response, Colonna alleged additional injuries to her right knee, left knee, back, neck, and right shoulder and sought a finding of compensability and additional medical treatment. In support of her claim, Colonna testified she could not exercise, suffered from constant stiffness and chronic pain in her right ankle, was unable to drive, and was receiving Social Security disability benefits because of her injury.

The single commissioner held a hearing and issued an order on March 1, 2010. In his order, he held Colonna failed to prove she sustained compensable injuries to her right knee, left knee, back, neck, or right shoulder. He further found Colonna had reached MMI for her right foot and ankle injury, and Marlboro Park was entitled to stop temporary disability benefits. He also concluded she had not suffered any additional permanent partial disability but was entitled to ongoing medical treatment as recommended by her authorized treating physician, Dr. Pasi.

The Commission upheld the single commissioner’s decision, adopting the single commissioner’s findings of fact and conclusions of law in full. Colonna appealed to this court, and we transferred her case to the circuit court pursuant to Rule 204, SCACR, because this case accrued prior to July 1, 2007. See Pee Dee Reg’l Transp. v. S.C. Second Injury Fund, 375 S.C. 60, 62, 650 S.E.2d 464, 465 (2007) (holding that all workers’ compensation cases in which the injury occurred on or after July 1, 2007, should be made directly to the Court of Appeals).

After two hearings, the circuit court upheld the Commission’s decision in full.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Thomas Contreras v. St. John's Fire District
Court of Appeals of South Carolina, 2024
Gene Grady v. The Shaw Group
Court of Appeals of South Carolina, 2023
Janice McCutcheon v. Greenwood Mills, Inc.
Court of Appeals of South Carolina, 2022
Billy Herndon v. G & G Logging
Court of Appeals of South Carolina, 2019
Dent v. E. Richland Cnty. Pub. Serv. Dist.
813 S.E.2d 886 (Court of Appeals of South Carolina, 2018)
Lettie Spencer v. NHC Parklane
Court of Appeals of South Carolina, 2017
Colonna v. Marlboro Park Hospital
Supreme Court of South Carolina, 2015

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
745 S.E.2d 128, 404 S.C. 537, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/colonna-v-marlboro-park-hospital-scctapp-2013.