Quinlan v. Incarnate Word Hospital

Missouri Court of Appeals

Quinlan v. Incarnate Word Hospital

714 S.W.2d 237, 1986 Mo. App. LEXIS 4566

CourtMissouri Court of Appeals

DecidedAugust 19, 1986

DocketNo. 50923

StatusPublished

Cited by3 cases

This text of 714 S.W.2d 237 (Quinlan v. Incarnate Word Hospital) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

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Quinlan v. Incarnate Word Hospital, 714 S.W.2d 237, 1986 Mo. App. LEXIS 4566 (Mo. Ct. App. 1986).

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Opinion

SMITH, Judge.

Employer appeals from an award of the Labor and Industrial Relations Commission of 20% permanent partial disability on Claimant’s workers compensation claim.

The only issue raised on appeal is that the Commission erred in awarding the percentage that it did because it exceeded the medical experts’ opinions of disability. Employee’s doctor placed the disability at 15%; employer’s doctor at 5%. A determination of the degree of disability is not strictly a medical question. The nature of the injury, its severity, and permanence are medical questions. However, the impact of that injury upon the employee’s ability to work involves considerations which are not exclusively medical in nature. As a result the courts have recognized that the extent and percentage of disability is a finding of fact within the special province of the Commission to determine. The Commission is not bound by the exact percentage of disability estimated by the medical experts. McAdams v. Seven-Up Bottling Works, 429 S.W.2d 284 (Mo.App.1968) [9]; Banner Iron Works v. Mordis, 663 S.W.2d 770 (Mo.App.1983) [6, 7].

The Commission had, in addition to the medical evidence, the testimony of the Claimant of her reduced ability to function with the back injury she admittedly sustained. This furnished competent and substantial evidence to support the award made.

The award is affirmed.

SNYDER, C.J., and CARL R. GAERT-NER, P.J., concur.

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SMITH, Judge.

Employer appeals from an award of the Labor and Industrial Relations Commission of 20% permanent partial disability on Claimant’s workers compensation claim.

The only issue raised on appeal is that the Commission erred in awarding the percentage that it did because it exceeded the medical experts’ opinions of disability. Employee’s doctor placed the disability at 15%; employer’s doctor at 5%. A determination of the degree of disability is not strictly a medical question. The nature of the injury, its severity, and permanence are medical questions. However, the impact of that injury upon the employee’s ability to work involves considerations which are not exclusively medical in nature. As a result the courts have recognized that the extent and percentage of disability is a finding of fact within the special province of the Commission to determine. The Commission is not bound by the exact percentage of disability estimated by the medical experts. McAdams v. Seven-Up Bottling Works, 429 S.W.2d 284 (Mo.App.1968) [9]; Banner Iron Works v. Mordis, 663 S.W.2d 770 (Mo.App.1983) [6, 7].

The Commission had, in addition to the medical evidence, the testimony of the Claimant of her reduced ability to function with the back injury she admittedly sustained. This furnished competent and substantial evidence to support the award made.

The award is affirmed.

SNYDER, C.J., and CARL R. GAERT-NER, P.J., concur.

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714 S.W.2d 237, 1986 Mo. App. LEXIS 4566, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/quinlan-v-incarnate-word-hospital-moctapp-1986.

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