Dow v. United Parcel Service

124 So. 3d 36, 2013 WL 5229793, 2013 La. App. LEXIS 1872
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedSeptember 18, 2013
DocketNo. 48,310-WCA
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 124 So. 3d 36 (Dow v. United Parcel Service) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Dow v. United Parcel Service, 124 So. 3d 36, 2013 WL 5229793, 2013 La. App. LEXIS 1872 (La. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

WILLIAMS, J.

| Claimant, James Dow, appeals the workers’ compensation judge’s decision, finding that claimant failed to meet his burden of proving that his disabling condition was the result of his work-related injury. For the following reasons, we affirm.

FACTS

Claimant, James Dow, was employed by United Parcel Service (“UPS”) for over 33 years; he was planning to retire effective May 29, 2009.1 Claimant was injured on April 14, 2009, when he struck his head on a loading-dock door as he was making a delivery. The parties stipulated that claimant was injured in a work-related accident.

On the day of the accident, claimant was examined by Dr. Ronald Woods at the Glenwood Family Practice and Occupational Health Center. Claimant complained of pain in the right side of his head and dizziness. Dr. Woods diagnosed claimant with a “contusion to skull” and ordered a computerized tomography (“CT”) scan of the brain; he instructed claimant to return to the clinic and await the results of the CT scan. Although the results of the CT scan were normal, Dr. Woods instructed claimant to wait in the clinic to ensure that he was “neurologically stable” before sending him home. Dr. Woods noted that claimant still complained of a headache and that he had been given ibuprofen for pain.

On that same night, claimant went to the emergency room at Glenwood Regional Medical Center (“Glenwood”), complaining of headache, dizziness and neck pain. Claimant’s physical examination was |2normal and did not reveal any laceration, hematoma, abrasion or swelling to the right side of his head. However, another CT scan was ordered; the results were normal. The emergency room physician diagnosed claimant with “concussion” and [38]*38discharged him with prescriptions for Flexeril (a muscle relaxant) and Lortab (a narcotic pain reliever) and with instructions to “followup” with his primary physician.

Claimant was seen by Dr. Woods the following day. Dr. Woods noted that claimant continued to complain of “some right temporal headache and some right neck pain.” Claimant’s neurological examination was within normal limits. Dr. Woods diagnosed claimant with a concussion and advised him “to take it easy all this week and even over the weekend.”

Claimant returned to the clinic on Friday, April 17, 2009. Dr. Woods noted that his condition was “improving” and that he complained of less pain. Later that day, claimant returned to the emergency room at Glenwood, complaining of nausea and “right[-]sided headache[,] ongoing intermittently since [TJuesday.” Claimant was given Benadryl, Toradol and Compazine; he was discharged home with a prescription for Fioricet as needed for pain.

On Monday, April 20, 2009, claimant returned to Dr. Woods and reported that he had “almost constant pain in the right temporal area of his skull and behind his eye[,] radiating to the back of his head almost down to his neck.” Dr. Woods examined claimant and noted that he appeared to be neurologically stable. Dr. Woods prescribed Tylenol # 3 for pain and Toradol injections as needed for severe headaches. He placed claimant on “clerical work only this week,” and ordered a magnetic resonance imaging |3(“MRI”) scan which showed “sinusitis.” Dr. Woods examined claimant on several other occasions: April 24, April 30, May 7, and May 26, June 3 and June 10, 2009. By the end of May, claimant’s complaints included headache and pain in the back of his neck. On June 3, 2009, Dr. Woods noted that claimant “has less pain in the temporal area but increased pain in the back of his neck.” He diagnosed claimant with post-concussion syndrome; at claimant’s request, Dr. Woods referred him to a neurologist.

Claimant retired from UPS on May 29, 2009. He began receiving workers’ compensation indemnity benefits from May 29, 2009, until his benefits were terminated on March 31, 2010.

On June 29, 2009, claimant was examined by a neurosurgeon, Dr. Howard Hola-day, who noted that claimant had “post-traumatic headache” with a normal neurological exam. ' Dr. Holaday prescribed Ly-rica, a pain medication, and instructed claimant to return with copies of his prior CT and MRI scans for his review. On July 15, 2009, claimant returned to Dr. Holaday, complaining of “intermittent headaches, pain over the right temporal region, and some pain affecting the right side of the neck and the right periauricular region.” Dr. Holaday prescribed pain medication and physical therapy, and ordered an MRI of the cervical spine and CT angiograms.

On July 21, 2009, claimant underwent an MRI of the cervical spine and CT angio-grams of the head and neck at Ouachita Imaging Center. The MRI showed a “broad base left paracentral disc protrusion at C6-7, producing some mild left lateral spinal stenosis.” The CT angio-grams were [ unremarkable.

On July 30, 2009, claimant returned to Dr. Holaday for a followup visit and reported “little change in his symptoms.” Dr. Holaday noted that claimant’s MRI and CT results did “not correlate with the distribution of his symptoms.” Dr. Hola-day continued to treat claimant conservatively, opining that he would not benefit from additional neurological intervention [39]*39and referred him to Dr. Carroll McLeod for pain management.

Claimant returned to Dr. Holaday on August 26, 2009, reporting “no significant change in his symptoms.” Dr. Holaday noted, “I do not believe the patient would benefit from any neurosurgical intervention at present,” and again referred him to pain management.

On October 19, 2009, at the request of UPS, claimant underwent what is referred to as an independent medical examination (“IME”)2 by Dr. Mary McWilliams, a neurologist. Dr. McWilliams characterized claimant’s injury as a “slight bump or blow to the head.” She noted that claimant had no objective findings which would be consistent with head trauma. She reviewed claimant’s MRI results and opined that the lesion in his spinal cord was not the type of lesion normally seen in trauma. Dr. McWilliams also reviewed claimant’s medical history and opined that claimant’s spinal issues were not related to his work-related accident, but rather, to degenerative disc disease and physiological stress. Dr. McWilliams noted:

Although the patient does not have objective evidence of a chronic injury from his bump to the head, he does have objective evidence of [a] chronic c-spine condition that | smay be painful. Generalized degeneration of the spine is an age related problem that can become symptomatic at any time in life[.]
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The herniated disc in the lower cervical spine is an asymptomatic lesion before and after the blow from bumping the door. It could not be causally related due to the location of the lesion in relation to the blow.
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The patient would be most safely treated using modalities such as ice, heat, and massage than with long term medications.
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The objective findings in the medical record support a diagnosis of contusion to the scalp over the left ear. There is nothing in the medical record that supports a diagnosis of cerebral concussion and the severity of the blow was mild. Treatment with occasional analgesics is appropriate for the symptoms he complains of.
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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
124 So. 3d 36, 2013 WL 5229793, 2013 La. App. LEXIS 1872, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dow-v-united-parcel-service-lactapp-2013.