Patterson v. Arkansas Department of Health

33 S.W.3d 151, 343 Ark. 255, 2000 Ark. LEXIS 601
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
DecidedDecember 14, 2000
Docket00-604
StatusPublished
Cited by33 cases

This text of 33 S.W.3d 151 (Patterson v. Arkansas Department of Health) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Patterson v. Arkansas Department of Health, 33 S.W.3d 151, 343 Ark. 255, 2000 Ark. LEXIS 601 (Ark. 2000).

Opinion

LAVENSKI R. Smith, Justice.

Appellant Annalee Patterson brings the instant appeal challenging a decision of the Arkansas Workers’ Compensation Commission denying her claim for permanent and total disability benefits under the odd-lot doctrine. The court of appeals reversed the Commission’s decision, and Appellees Arkansas Department of Health (ADH) and Arkansas Insurance Department, Public Employee Claims Division (PECD) petitioned this court for review of the court of appeals’ decision. Appellee the Second Injury Trust Fund (SIF) filed a supplemental brief contesting any award from the Second Injury Fund, which the court of appeals and the commission determined was not applicable in this case. We accepted review, and reverse in part and affirm in part.

Facts

On December 19, 1991, Patterson sustained a compensable injury to her lumbar spine when she reached across and moved her desk to plug in an electrical surge protector. Patterson, currently a fifty-year-old woman who was employed at ADH as an administrative nurse, testified that she experienced immediate pain in her back. By the end of the day she could barely walk, and during the night she went to the emergency room because her symptoms had progressed. She was admitted for three days. After her release, she received conservative care from Dr. John Wilson, an orthopedic doctor, through the end of January 1992.

Because of increasing pain and numbness, Dr. Wilson referred Patterson to Dr. Jim Moore, another orthopedic surgeon, who ordered a lumbar myelogram and contrasting CT on January 31, 1992, which revealed “significant abnormality” at the L5-S1 and L4-5 levels in her lumbar spine. Due to the nature of the injury, Dr. Moore performed a surgical decompression, and found acute disc ruptures in these discs. This surgery was the first of five over the course of Patterson’s treatment.

Dr. Moore released Patterson on April 6, 1992, to work half days on a light-duty trial basis. Dr. Moore’s reports after this date indicate that Patterson was working some, but that she was missing work because of pain. Reports through 1992 indicate that Patterson had returned to work, but that she was experiencing constant pain in her left leg and ankle, which Dr. Moore treated with epidural steroid injections, a splint, and specialized shoes.

In August 1993, Patterson underwent another myelogram and CT scan which indicated “marked compression at the SI level on the right side,” and ultimately underwent a second surgery on October 11, 1993. Only three months later, Patterson underwent another myelogram on January 27, 1994, which indicated continued problems in the lumbar spine, including a recurrent disc herniation at L5-S1. At this time, she was diagnosed with foot-drop syndrome in her legs and feet. However, a follow-up EMG nerve conduction study performed on February 2, 1994, by Dr. David Miles showed no electrical abnormalities on either the left or right sides. Due to these conflicting findings, Dr. Moore referred Patterson to Dr. Thomas Fletcher for a second neurosurgical opinion to determine the proper treatment.

Dr. Fletcher saw Patterson on February 22, 1994, and he recommended a third surgery to attempt to relieve a possible SI nerve root compression on the right side of her lumber spine. An additional surgery was performed on March 3, 1994, by Dr. Moore. Post-operative exam reports indicate that while Patterson was still experiencing tenderness and weakness, she was anxious to return to work, and was allowed to return for two days a week for half-day work. However, on June 8, 1994, Dr. Moore reported that Patterson was having difficulty at work because of continued pain and numbness. He stated in this report, “In fact, I am concerned that the patient may well not be able to return to working activities and thus may well be a candidate for consideration of retirement medically.”

Patterson continued to experience pain and weakness in her back, buttocks, and legs, and Dr. Moore ordered another myelogram and CT scan on July 27, 1994. These tests revealed that Patterson was suffering from arachnoiditis in the lower thecal sac, but that additional surgery would not be beneficial at that time. Dr. Moore continued to perform local blocks in the nerves in her back, and Patterson apparently experienced some relief from these. However, due to continued radiational pain, Dr. Moore scheduled a fourth surgery on April 11, 1995, to excise some scar material around the lumbar spine. Dr. Moore’s pre- and post-operative diagnoses were identical, as “pseudoradiculopathy secondary to kissing lumbar spines and bursal tissue at L4-5.”

In an office note on June 21, 1995, Dr. Moore reported that Patterson fell approximately ten days prior to the office visit due to the pain and numbness in her feet and legs, and began experiencing acute radiational right lower extremity pain. Patterson reported the fall to be caused by her right foot “giving way” when she tried to walk. Another myelogram on June 26, 1995, showed definite changes from the previous myelogram. Patterson underwent her fifth and final surgery on July 11, 1995. Dr. Moore’s post-operative report indicated that the surgery revealed “post-operative changes at L4-5 and L5-S1” and that he found thecal sac material related to the arachnoiditis, and that this was causing nerve problems. A cerebrospinal fluid leak that developed after surgery was patched surgically on July 15, 1995.

Following this last surgery and cerebrospinal fluid leak, Patterson experienced increased acute low back pain, spasms, and pain radiating into her lower right leg. Patterson began a rehabilitation program at Baptist Rehabilitation Institute, and during her treatment program there, Dr. Jeffery Ketcham performed an adhesiolysis procedure to attempt to relieve the post-laminectomy scarring and radicular pain. However, Patterson experienced no relief from the procedure. Patterson also underwent an MRI at the request of Dr. Thomas Shinder, a neurologist at the The Pain Care Center, who reported in a December 7, 1995, report that he principally diagnosed arachnoiditis with significant behavioral overlay, finding that there was no objective evidence of numbness or weakness because of the spinal fluid leak. On December 14, 1995, Dr. Shinder further found possible cord injury causing an unusual pattern of spasticity and possible conversion disorder, as well as arachnoiditis. On December 21, 1995, Dr. Shinder conducted testing to determine the integrity of spinal cord functioning through posterior tibia and somatosensory testing. In essence, Dr. Shinder put Patterson under sedation to test the amount of spasticity in her lower extremities without the conscious control of the patient. After being unable to find any objective reaction even under extreme sedation, Dr. Shinder’s report continued the diagnosis of possible arachnoiditis, as well as mild radiculopathy and conversion versus factitious disorder.

After testing, Dr. Shinder referred Patterson to a physical therapist beginning in January 1996, and Patterson also underwent psychological testing with Behavior Management Systems, Inc. She was given the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), which indicated a valid, honest profile and was within normal limits. In May 1996, Patterson underwent another pain injection at Doctor’s Hospital.

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Bluebook (online)
33 S.W.3d 151, 343 Ark. 255, 2000 Ark. LEXIS 601, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/patterson-v-arkansas-department-of-health-ark-2000.