Welcome v. Martin De Porres Nursing Home

883 So. 2d 1113, 2004 WL 2181442
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedSeptember 29, 2004
DocketNo. 04-537
StatusPublished

This text of 883 So. 2d 1113 (Welcome v. Martin De Porres Nursing Home) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Welcome v. Martin De Porres Nursing Home, 883 So. 2d 1113, 2004 WL 2181442 (La. Ct. App. 2004).

Opinion

JjGREMILLION, Judge.

The plaintiff, Pamela Welcome, appeals the workers’ compensation judge’s finding that she failed to prove that her wrist and back conditions were work-related. For the following reasons, we affirm.

FACTS

Welcome was employed as a certified nurse’s aide by Martin dePorres Nursing Home on three separate occasions, the latest being January 2001 through September 2002. On September 12, 2002, the Nursing Home fired her for burning up a van’s engine. Thereafter, on April 29, 2003, Welcome filed a disputed claim for compensation against the Nursing Home seeking medical treatment, compensation benefits, penalties, and attorney’s fees for her bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome and lower back pain. She alleged that these conditions arose as a result of her work-[1115]*1115related duties, which included lifting patients. Welcome underwent a carpal tunnel release on her right hand on January 10, 2003, with the same procedure recommended for her left hand. She also sought treatment for her lower back pain from Dr. David Duhon, a chiropractor. An August 15, 2003 MRI revealed a broad-based central, left paracentral disc protrusion or herniation at the L5-S1 disc level.

This matter proceeded to a trial on the merits on May 6, 2003. On February 6, 2004, the workers’ compensation judge issued oral reasons finding that Welcome failed to prove that either of her conditions was work-related. A judgment was rendered in this matter dismissing her claims against the Nursing Home with prejudice. This appeal by Welcome followed.

J^ISSUES

On appeal, Welcome raises three assignments of error. She argues that the workers’ compensation judge erred in finding that she failed to prove that her carpal tunnel injury was an occupational disease, that she failed to prove a work-related injury to her lower back, and that she was not entitled to medical treatment and compensation benefits.

OCCUPATIONAL DISEASE

Welcome first argues that the workers’ compensation judge erred in holding that she failed to prove her bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome qualified as an occupational disease.

Louisiana Revised Statute 23:1031.1 provides in part:

A. Every employee who is disabled because of the contraction of an occupational disease as herein defined ... shall be entitled to the compensation provided in this Chapter the same as if said employee received personal injury by accident arising out of and in the course of his employment.
B. An occupational disease means only that disease or illness which is due to causes and conditions characteristic of and peculiar to the particular trade, occupation, process, or employment in which the employee is exposed to such disease. Occupational disease shall include injuries due to work-related carpal tunnel syndrome....

In order to recover medical and compensation benefits as the result of an occupational disease, Welcome must prove that she developed carpal tunnel syndrome due to the nature of her duties as a nurse’s aide. Dunaway v. Lakeview Reg’l Med. Ctr, 02-2313 (La.App. 1 Cir. 8/6/03), 859 So.2d 131. The plaintiffs burden in this instance is to prove a connection between her condition and her work-related duties by a reasonable probability. Id. Proof of only a possible relationship ^between the two does not satisfy this burden. Id. The determination of whether a plaintiff has carried her burden of proof is a finding of fact; thus, the workers’ compensation judge’s finding is reviewed pursuant to the manifest error standard of review. Banks v. Indust. Roofing & Sheet Metal Works, Inc., 96-2840 (La.7/1/97), 696 So.2d 551.

Welcome testified that her job duties as a nurse’s aide included lifting and changing the patients in their beds, transferring them to wheelchairs, beds, shower chairs, or toilets, and feeding, shaving, bathing, and combing their hair. She also drove them to their doctor’s appointments, helped them to and from the van, and sat with them while they waited. As a result of these duties, she stated that her hands and wrists started bothering her during her last term of employment with the Nursing Home.

Welcome’s carpal tunnel syndrome was treated by both Dr. Tariq Khan and Dr. [1116]*1116Shakeel Sandozi. She testified that she told both doctors that her wrist problems arose as a result of her job duties. In her deposition, she testified that she experienced numbness and tingling in her hand and arms for approximately nine months to a year prior to her April 30, 2002 appointment with Dr. Khan. She further denied telling Dr. Sandozi that she experienced hand and wrist pain for at least two years prior to her initial appointment with him on December 6, 2003.

Dr. Khan, an internist at the W.O. Moss Regional Medical Center, testified that Welcome first complained of right hand pain, numbness, and tingling, especially at night, on April 30, 2002. She complained of similar symptoms in her left hand on July 24, 2002. He testified that his notes contained no mention by her |4of anything which may have precipitated this condition. A July 31, 2002 EMG revealed moderate bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome, greater on the right.

Dr. Sandozi, Chief of Surgery at Moss Regional, initially saw Welcome on December 16, 2002. He stated that she complained of experiencing pain and numbness in her hands and fingers for a few years, which interfered with her duties as a nurse’s aide. Dr. Sandozi diagnosed Welcome as suffering from bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome, worse on the right. He performed a carpal tunnel release on her right hand on January 10, 2003, from which he stated her recovery was uneventful.

Both Drs. Khan and Sandozi identified numerous conditions which can cause carpal tunnel syndrome, such as disease, trauma, and repetitive motions. Dr. Sandozi described the types of duties classically leading to this condition as those involving repetitive actions of the hands and fingers, e.g., typing, cashier work, moving heavy objects, or using vibrating tools. He reluctantly agreed that nurse’s aides, typically, do not develop carpal tunnel syndrome. Finally, Drs. Khan and Sandozi both found it difficult to determine whether Welcome’s job duties actually caused her carpal tunnel syndrome or whether they simply exacerbated an underlying problem.

The workers’ compensation judge held that Welcome failed to prove that her carpal tunnel syndrome was caused by her work-related duties. After reviewing the record, we conclude that the workers’ compensation judge reasonably could have concluded that Welcome failed to prove a causal connection between the two. Although carpal tunnel syndrome, in and of itself, is an occupational disease, Welcome still had to prove that her duties caused the condition. Despite being | ^questioned extensively on this issue, neither of her treating physicians would make that connection. When questioned, both equivocated by stating that while her duties may have exacerbated her condition, they were unsure if they actually caused it. Dr. San-dozi further stated that the duties of a nurse’s aide typically do not lend themselves to the development this type of condition. Finally, we point to Dr. Sandozi’s notes in which he noted Welcome reported suffering from these symptoms for a few years prior to December 16, 2002, and to Dr. Khan’s notes which are devoid of any mention by her that this condition was work-related.

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Related

Bruno v. Harbert Intern. Inc.
593 So. 2d 357 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1992)
Holiday v. Borden Chemical
508 So. 2d 1381 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1987)
Dunaway v. Lakeview Regional Medical Center
859 So. 2d 131 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2003)
Banks v. Indus. Roofing & Sheet Metal
696 So. 2d 551 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1997)
Nelson v. Roadway Exp., Inc.
588 So. 2d 350 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1991)
West v. Bayou Vista Manor, Inc.
371 So. 2d 1146 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1979)

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Bluebook (online)
883 So. 2d 1113, 2004 WL 2181442, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/welcome-v-martin-de-porres-nursing-home-lactapp-2004.