E. Johnson v. Driversource, Inc. (WCAB)

CourtCommonwealth Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedFebruary 24, 2022
Docket464 C.D. 2021
StatusUnpublished

This text of E. Johnson v. Driversource, Inc. (WCAB) (E. Johnson v. Driversource, Inc. (WCAB)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
E. Johnson v. Driversource, Inc. (WCAB), (Pa. Ct. App. 2022).

Opinion

IN THE COMMONWEALTH COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA

Eddie Johnson, : Petitioner : : v. : No. 464 C.D. 2021 : SUBMITTED: September 17, 2021 Driversource, Inc. : (Workers’ Compensation Appeal : Board), : Respondent :

BEFORE: HONORABLE PATRICIA A. McCULLOUGH, Judge HONORABLE ELLEN CEISLER, Judge HONORABLE BONNIE BRIGANCE LEADBETTER, Senior Judge

OPINION NOT REPORTED

MEMORANDUM OPINION BY SENIOR JUDGE LEADBETTER FILED: February 24, 2022

Claimant, Eddie Johnson, petitions for review from the April 15, 2021 order of the Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board. The Board affirmed the workers’ compensation judge’s (WCJ) August 12, 2020 Decision and Order that granted, in part, Claimant’s petition to review compensation benefits (review petition) and granted the petition for termination of compensation benefits (termination petition) filed by Employer, Driversource, Inc. We affirm. I. Background and Procedural History On December 4, 2018, Claimant worked for Employer as a driver. While driving his route, he was struck head-on by another vehicle. As a result of this accident, Claimant injured his right side, from his shoulder and thumb, down through his low back and to his knee. Employer issued a notice of temporary compensation payable, which later converted to a notice of compensation payable (NCP) by operation of law. On July 3, 2019, Employer filed its termination petition, alleging Claimant had fully recovered from his work injuries as of April 8, 2019, pursuant to the opinion of Amir Fayyazi, M.D. The matter was assigned to the WCJ on July 5, 2019, and on September 9, 2019, Claimant filed his review petition alleging that the injuries, as originally described, should be amended to include myofascial pain syndrome, lumbar paraspinal strain/sprain, cervical strain/sprain, chronic bilateral low back pain, sprain of the metacarpophalangeal joint of the right thumb, sprain of the collateral ligament of his right knee, right wrist and hand sprain, a left elbow injury, and aggravation of degenerative joint disc disease or aggravation of degenerative disc disease. Employer filed an Answer denying the critical averments raised in the review petition. Hearings were held by the WCJ on September 11, 2019, and March 6, 2020, and the parties each presented documentary evidence for the WCJ’s consideration. At the conclusion of hearings, and after consideration of the documentary evidence presented by the parties, and admitted into evidence by the WCJ, the WCJ issued his Decision and Order. A summary of the WCJ’s findings and conclusions follows below. II. The WCJ’s Decision and Order In his August 12, 2020 Decision and Order, the WCJ made the following findings. The WCJ found Claimant credible relative to his testimony about his job duties. Finding of Fact (F.F.) 4. The WCJ found Claimant credible that he was in a motor vehicle accident, which resulted in injuries to his lumbar and cervical spine, as well as to his right knee, right thumb, and wrist. However, the

2 WCJ did not find Claimant’s testimony to be credible that his low back injury continues to prevent him from returning to work in any capacity.1 F.F. 10. Claimant presented the deposition testimony of his doctor, Jason Erickson, D.O., who is board certified in physical medicine and rehabilitation and interventional pain medicine. Dr. Erickson began treating Claimant in April 2019 and opined that Claimant sustained a lumbar paraspinal strain as a result of his work- related motor vehicle accident. F.F. 8. The WCJ found:

When reviewing the medical records, [Dr. Erickson] opined that Claimant also has myofascial pain syndrome, a lumbar paraspinal strain and sprain, cervical strain and sprain, chronic bilateral low back pain, sprain of the metacarpophalangeal joint of the right thumb, sprain of the collateral ligament of the right knee, right wrist and hand sprain and strain, left elbow injury, aggravation of degenerative disc disease, degenerative joint disease, lumbar radiculitis and thoracic kyphosis although he noted that the thoracic kyphosis is not a diagnosis caused by the [work accident]. He noted that facet arthrosis is arthritis of the lumbar spine and was noted in the imaging, but this would not be caused by the accident. He feels that these underlying conditions could be aggravated by the accident. He believes that there was an aggravation of the tricompartmental osteoarthritis of the right knee. Dr. Erickson conceded that he is unable to render an opinion to a reasonable degree of medical certainty as to whether . . . Claimant’s facet arthritis was aggravated by the accident . . . .

[W]hen asked whether he could render an opinion to a reasonable degree of medical certainty as to whether [] Claimant could currently return to his pre-injury job, [Dr. Erickson] indicated that he cannot comment on that as he hadn’t followed up with Claimant to see if he could return to that level of duty. As of his last examination in July 2019, he did not feel [] Claimant would be capable of a return to that

1 As background, the Board noted that Employer filed a February 25, 2019 petition to modify compensation benefits (modification petition), alleging that Claimant was able to return to work with restrictions, as determined by his treating medical provider, and that he had returned to work with a different employer for some period of time. The parties agreed to keep the present matter separate from the modification petition. Thus, the Board did not address it as part of its Opinion and Order, and we do not address it here. See Board’s Op. and Order, 4/15/2021 at 2, n.1.

3 position. Since Dr. Erickson has not seen Claimant in a follow[-]up appointment, he was not in a position to say whether Claimant had fully recovered from [his] work injur[ies]. As of his last examination, he did not believe Claimant had recovered due to Claimant’s continued complaints of pain and the need to seek further treatment. He did not recall if Claimant was still on medications at that last appointment. Dr. Erickson was not sure whether Claimant continued to treat with other providers at the time of his evaluation.

On cross examination, Dr. Erickson acknowledged that he saw Claimant initially in March or April 2019. He then saw Claimant at a subsequent visit to perform the initial injection. He acknowledged that Claimant sustained a soft tissue injury and the injections he provided were not into the spinal column. Dr. Erickson acknowledged he has not provided a referral to any surgeons for Claimant’s treatment.

Dr. Erickson acknowledged that when he saw [] Claimant the next time on July 11, 2019[,] to perform the second injection, he did not perform a separate physical examination. He conceded that he had not seen Claimant in follow up since July 11, 2019. He doesn’t know how Claimant responded to that second injection. At the time of [Dr. Erickson’s] testimony, Claimant had not scheduled a further appointment with his office. Dr. Erickson acknowledged that at the first visit he did not diagnose Claimant with radiculopathy. Dr. Erickson acknowledged that at the first visit, he did not recall whether Claimant was complaining of cervical pain, right thumb pain, right knee pain, right wrist or hand pain or left elbow pain. He does not believe Claimant was complaining of radiculitis or radiculopathy as of that first visit. Dr. Erickson acknowledged that he had not seen any medical records after July 2019, . . . where Claimant was complaining of radiculitis or radiculopathy. He then agreed that at the time he evaluated Claimant, Claimant would have been fully recovered from any radiculopathy or radiculitis.

Similarly, Dr. Erickson has not seen any records after July 2019, where Claimant appear[ed] to treat for the cervical strain or sprain, [] myofascial pain syndrome, the lumbar sprain or strain or the bilateral low back pain. Dr.

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Bluebook (online)
E. Johnson v. Driversource, Inc. (WCAB), Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/e-johnson-v-driversource-inc-wcab-pacommwct-2022.