Walker v. United Cerebral Palsy of Arkansas

426 S.W.3d 539, 2013 Ark. App. 153, 2013 WL 828300, 2013 Ark. App. LEXIS 175
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arkansas
DecidedMarch 6, 2013
DocketNo. CA 12-858
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 426 S.W.3d 539 (Walker v. United Cerebral Palsy of Arkansas) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Walker v. United Cerebral Palsy of Arkansas, 426 S.W.3d 539, 2013 Ark. App. 153, 2013 WL 828300, 2013 Ark. App. LEXIS 175 (Ark. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

ROBERT J. GLADWIN, Chief Judge.

[[Appellant Shirley Walker files this pro se appeal from the August 30, 2012 Arkansas Workers’ Compensation Commission’s opinion reversing the April 26, 2012 opinion of the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) and finding that she failed to prove by a preponderance of the evidence her entitlement to additional medical treatment under the care of Dr. Kevin Collins. Appellant asserts that the Commission unreasonably determined that she failed to prove that additional treatment for her July 2000 lumbar-spine injury was reasonable and necessary. We affirm.

On July 15, 2000, appellant sustained a compensable injury when she was assisting a patient from a wheelchair. Appellant initially was seen by her primary-care physician, Dr. William Joseph, who referred her to Dr. John Wilson at Ortho Arkansas. Appellant was [ 2diagnosed with a lumbar strain and associated spasms, determined to have no permanent injury, and released to normal activities after three weeks.

On October 10, 2000, appellant complained of chronic back pain and was referred to Dr. Collins. From late 2000 through 2005, she saw a number of physicians and received a variety of treatments. By 2005, the medical consensus was that appellant’s remaining pain and symptoms were the result of degenerative changes.

On July 19, 2005, appellant once again saw Dr. Collins, who noted that appellant was at maximum medical improvement and assigned her an eleven-percent physical-impairment rating to the body as a whole on July 19, 2005, which appellees accepted. Appellant did not undergo any additional treatment with Dr. Collins until six years later in 2011.

In 2010, appellant petitioned the Commission for a continued athletic-club membership and mileage reimbursement, which was granted. During those hearings, appellant testified that the athletic-club membership was necessary because it alleviated her pain in lieu of pain medication. Appellant left appellee’s employment and worked for over ten years at the Arkansas State Hospital. She acknowledged that she worked twelve-hour shifts in direct-patient care. Appellant testified that she was unable to take pain medication because of her work. Appellant was awarded the continued gym membership and mileage reimbursement based on the assertion that she would be going to the gym so that she would not have to take pain medication and could remain alert at work.

However, fit was discovered that appellant was terminated for sleeping on the job, which she attributed to her prescription-drug use. Twelve years after the initial work injury, |sappellant requested additional medical treatment and another extension of her gym membership. Appellant refused to undergo the offered independent medical examination suggested as a compromise by appellees. Due to appellant’s refusal, the records in this case were reviewed by Dr. Earl Peeples for an opinion. Dr. Peeples opined that the best thing for appellant would be to resume activities, including gainful employment. He further stated that continued medication and treatment by Dr. Collins was both unnecessary and not related to the twelve-year-old injury.

Appellant presented no rebuttal opinion or documentation. After a review of the record and briefs of the parties, the Commission denied appellant’s claim in its November 5, 2010 opinion. Appellant subsequently sought additional medical benefits in the form of continuing treatment from Dr. Collins. The ALJ held in her opinion of April 26, 2012, that the Commission’s November 5, 2010 opinion is the law of the case and that appellant proved by a preponderance of the evidence her entitlement to additional medical treatment under the care of Dr. Collins. Appellee, United Cerebral Palsy, appealed the decision of the ALJ to the Commission, and that decision was reversed on August 30, 2012. This appeal followed.

In reviewing a decision of the Workers’ Compensation Commission, an appellate court views the evidence and all reasonable inferences deducible therefrom in the light most favorable to the Commission’s findings and affirms those findings if they are supported by substantial evidence, which is evidence a reasonable person might accept as adequate to support a conclusion. Johnson v. Latex Constr. Co., 94 Ark.App. 431, 232 S.W.3d 504 (2006). The issue on appeal is not whether there is evidence that could support a different finding. Minnesota Mining & Mfg. v. Baker, 337 Ark. 94, 989 S.W.2d 151 (1999).

When a claim is denied because the claimant has failed to show an entitlement to compensation by a preponderance of the evidence, the substantial-evidence standard of review requires us to affirm if the Commission’s opinion displays a substantial basis for the denial of relief. Johnson, supra. We do not reverse a decision of the Commission unless we are convinced that fair-minded persons with the same facts before them could not have arrived at the conclusion reached. Id.

Employers are required to promptly provide medical services that are reasonably necessary for treatment of compensable injuries. Ark.Code Ann. § ll-9-508(a) (Repl.2012). However, injured employees have the burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence that medical treatment is reasonably necessary for treatment of the compensable injury. White Consol. Indus, v. Galloway, 74 Ark.App. 13, 45 S.W.3d 396 (2001). In assessing whether a given medical procedure is reasonably necessary for treatment of the compensable injury, the Commission analyzes both the proposed procedure and the condition it sought to remedy.

Appellant asks this court to reevaluate the evidence presented below and hold in her favor. After analyzing the medical records of other physicians, Dr. Peeples opined that there was “no traumatic anatomy that has been identified in Ms. Walker.” Appellant argues that this opinion contradicts the previously accepted on-the-job injury to her back. Appellant claims that Dr. Peeples cannot undermine the law of the case by now stating after the fact | sthat appellant has no work-related injury and that “incidental anatomy unrelated to the incident has been identified and treated without good justification.” Appellant notes that Dr. Cathey refused to opine whether the findings were not incidental to a work-related injury. Appellant contends that Dr. Peeples misstated the law when he said that causation had to be established by objective, identifiable anatomic trauma. Objective medical evidence is necessary to establish the existence and extent of an injury but is not essential to establish the causal relationship between the injury and a work-related accident in a workers’ compensation case. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. VanWagner, 337 Ark. 443, 990 S.W.2d 522 (1999).

Appellant notes that her primary physicians, Dr. Collins and Dr. Mocek, opined that she needed pain management for a back condition that the Commission previously found compensable. Dr. Collins also recommended that appellant continue on her medications, see him every three months, and continue undergoing an exercise program at the North Little Rock Athletic Club to help strengthen her back.1

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426 S.W.3d 539, 2013 Ark. App. 153, 2013 WL 828300, 2013 Ark. App. LEXIS 175, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/walker-v-united-cerebral-palsy-of-arkansas-arkctapp-2013.