Feliciano Figueroa v. Industrial Commission

84 P.R. 188
CourtSupreme Court of Puerto Rico
DecidedDecember 18, 1961
DocketNo. 563
StatusPublished

This text of 84 P.R. 188 (Feliciano Figueroa v. Industrial Commission) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Puerto Rico primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Feliciano Figueroa v. Industrial Commission, 84 P.R. 188 (prsupreme 1961).

Opinion

Mr. Justice Santana Becerra

delivered the opinion of the Court.

The laborer, petitioner herein, sustained a labor accident on July 13, 1956, when he fell from an altitude of 25 feet from the gangplank of a ship injuring his left leg. He was assisted at the State Insurance Fund, and on August 7, 1956 he was discharged as cured without disability. The laborer appealed to the Industrial Commission which, in view of the reports of its doctors, ordered the Fund on August" 29, 1956 to give further medical' treatment to the petitioner. The X-ray plates on that date disclosed that he had periostitis of the upper third of the left femur. On November 15,;1956, [191]*191he was again discharged by the Fund without disability. He appealed to the Commission alleging that he could not work and requested determination of his disability. The medical examination disclosed that he had a calcified hematoma of the left femur and a slight atrophy of the thigh and moderate limitation of the flexion of the leg on the knee. On December 21, 1956, the Commission entered an order which it after-wards amended on January 4, 1957, fixing a disability equivalent to the loss of 10 per cent of the physiological functions of the left leg on or above the knee. The laborer moved for reconsideration, which was denied on the ground that it had been untimely made.

In some way which does not appear in the record, the petitioner appealed to the Fund, and there appears in the record a report from Dr. J. M. Quiñones, dated March 6, 1957, setting forth that he did not find atrophy nor anatomical deformity and that the movements of the left leg were completely normal, although the laborer claimed that he felt pain on that leg, and that there was no recidivism from the accident sustained on July 13, 1956. The laborer appealed from this determination to the Industrial Commission, and in view of his insistence that he felt much pain and malaise on his left thigh, he was referred to orthopedist Dr. Aníbal Lugo for examination. On April 3, 1957, Dr. Lugo submitted a report to the Commission setting forth that the laborer limped and walked with the aid of a cane. He presented atrophy of one inch of the muscles of the thigh and the flexion movements in the thigh were limited. He recommended that he could be helped by some physiotherapy.

On June 3, 1957, after holding a public hearing and receiving evidence, and it appearing from the X-ray plates that he had periostitis of the left femur with calcified hema-toma and that the laborer claimed that he felt a sharp pain, the Industrial Commission ordered the Fund to give him medical treatment until he was completely cured.

[192]*192There is a medical report of the Fund dated July 16, 1957, ruling that the laborer presented the same disability as that determined on December 21, 1956 by the Industrial Commission, which apparently brought the treatment ordered to an end. The petitioner appealed from this ruling to the .Commission alleging that he was suffering total paralysis and disability of the left leg which disabled him for work and could not walk without the aid of a cane. He was again referred to orthopedist Dr. Lugo for examination. On August 15, 1957, Dr. Lugo submitted a report indicating that the man still limped and complained of weakness and pain on the lower left limb affected, and that the measurements still showed considerable atrophy of the muscles of the entire limb. Dr. Lugo was still of the opinion that the leg could be strengthened by proper physioteraphy.

On September 19,1957, after holding another public hearing, the Commission again referred the case to the Fund and ordered that the medical treatment recommended by Dr. Lugo be given. On November 15, 1957, the Fund issued a medical report stating that the treatment ordered had been given, ratifying the disability of 10 per cent allowed. The laborer again appealed from such ruling to the Commission, alleging not only that he was not cured but also that his health was failing to the point that he could not walk. On December 27, 1957, the Commission confirmed the ruling on disability. The laborer moved for reconsideration enclosing with his request a medical report from Dr. Julio Lergier, of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare of the Social Security Administration, which was admitted in evidence at a subsequent hearing and which diagnosed the loss of 75 per cent of function of the left leg, 90 per cent atrophy of the muscles of the left leg, 80 per cent loss of the function of the left hand, chronic periostitis in the left femur. According to this report, which is dated January 8, 1958, the laborer is totally and permanently disabled. On January [193]*19328, 1958, the reconsideration sought was denied, and on February 25, 1958 the Commission ratified the same upon disposing of a second motion for reconsideration made this time through an attorney.

There is another medical report of the Fund dated June 4,1958, to the effect that there was no evidence of reactivation of periostitis, wherefore there was no recidivism. The laborer appealed from this ruling and, having been re-examined, the doctors determined as follows: “In view of the progressive atrophy, and taking also into consideration that the upper left limb now appears to have a limitation in the elevation of the arm over the shoulder, an evaluation by the neurosurgeon of the State Fund is necessary.” In consonance with that ruling, on June 19, 1958 the Commission again referred the case to the Fund.

On July 23, 1958, the medical adviser of the Commission, Dr. A. Oliveras Guerra, referred the case to Dr. Eicardo Cor-dero for examination and report. Dr. Cordero submitted his report on July 24, 1958, setting forth that the laborer had appeared with the aid of two crutches and that even then he could hardly walk, and that every movement was a contortion indicative of intensive physical suffering. The neuro-logic examination revealed: “appreciable muscular atrophy of the left leg, with a circumference of two inches less than the other at the level of the middle third of the thighs and of one and one fourth inch at the level of the middle third of the calves. Practically total loss of the spontaneous motility in the left leg. Absence of pain sensation on touch and vibrations in both extremities and the corresponding half of the trunk in the left half of the body. Live and similar tendinous and plantar reflexes in the lower extremities; live and similar osteotendinous reflexes in the upper extremities. Does not present pyramidal signs. • Very intensive pain upon passive movements produced in the left leg. Comment : as may be seen, the patient presents appreciable psy-[194]*194chofunctional changes resulting from a traumatic experience. I believe he should be referred to a psychiatrist.”

. In view of that report, the petitioner was referred to the Fund to be examined by the psychiatrist, which the Fund refused to do in the belief that it was unnecessary in the opinion of its doctors, and thereupon the Commission on September 17, 1958 referred the case for examination and report to psychiatrist Dr. Arturo Flores Gallardo. After making detailed remarks with respect to the laborer — among them the statement which the worker made to him in describing the accident while walking down the gangplank with a pail of water in the hand, that “I had a narrow escape; a few days ago an American was killed on that gangplank”— Dr.

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Bluebook (online)
84 P.R. 188, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/feliciano-figueroa-v-industrial-commission-prsupreme-1961.