Anderson & Padgett Sawmill v. Collins, 96-702
| Decision Date | 27 January 1997 |
| Docket Number | No. 96-702,96-702 |
| Citation | 686 So.2d 795 |
| Parties | 22 Fla. L. Weekly D344 ANDERSON & PADGETT SAWMILL and FTBA Self-Insurers' Fund, Appellants, v. Glen D. COLLINS, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Patrick J. Formelia of Boehn, Brown, Rigdon, Seacrest & Fischer, P.A., Orlando, for Appellants.
Bradley H. Hollingsworth of Meyers, Mooney & Meyers, Orlando, for Appellee.
Anderson & Padgett Sawmill and FTBA Self-Insurers' Fund, collectively the employer and its servicing agent (E/SA), appeal an order awarding certain disability benefits to appellee Collins (claimant). We reverse and remand the order as it relates to the award of permanent total disability (PTD) benefits, but otherwise affirm.
Claimant injured his back on October 16, 1991, while working for the employer. Following the hearing on claimant's petition for benefits, the judge of compensation claims (JCC) found that claimant had reached maximum medical improvement (MMI) on March 27, 1995, and awarded temporary total disability (TTD) benefits from April 27, 1992, through March 27, 1995, and PTD thereafter, based upon an adequate job search. The JCC also authorized an examination and treatment for claimant's suspected reflex sympathetic dystrophy.
The E/SA argues that claimant is not entitled to PTD benefits, because in the same order awarding PTD benefits, the JCC authorized further evaluation and medical treatment for suspected reflex sympathetic dystrophy, and, because such treatment involves remedial care, no finding of MMI can be made, and PTD cannot, therefore, be awarded. We are unable to determine from the record, however, whether the authorized care directed is remedial or palliative. If the care is deemed remedial, the award of PTD must be stricken, because claimant is not yet at MMI, and the award of any permanent disability benefits would, of course, be premature. If, however, the treatment is determined palliative, it would have no effect on an award of such benefits. Under the circumstances, we reverse the award of PTD benefits and remand the case with directions for the JCC to clarify the nature of the treatment. See Circle K Corp. v. Lackey, 637 So.2d 360 (Fla. 1st DCA 1994).
The E/SA alternatively argues, assuming the treatment is considered palliative, that PTD benefits should not have been awarded because the MMI date which the JCC established was incorrect in that claimant was gainfully employed thereafter. Although we agree that...
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...accepted was not premature, the finding must be reversed and the case remanded for further explication. See Anderson & Padgett Sawmill v. Collins, 686 So.2d 795 (Fla. 1st DCA 1997) (remanding for further findings because it was impossible to determine from the order, which both granted perm......
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...premature if it preceded maximum medical improvement. See Corral v. McCrory Corp., 228 So.2d 900 (Fla.1969); Anderson & Padgett Sawmill v. Collins, 686 So.2d 795 (Fla. 1st DCA 1997); Department of Offender Rehabilitation v. Godwin, 394 So.2d 1091 (Fla. 1st DCA "Date of maximum medical impro......
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Westphal v. City of St. Petersburg
...disability benefits is premature until an injured worker reaches the stage of full medical recovery. See Anderson & Padgett Sawmill v. Collins, 686 So. 2d 795, 796 (Fla. 1st DCA 1997). In Martinez v. Scanlan, 582 So. 2d 1167 (Fla. 1991), the Florida Supreme Court employed the Kluger test to......
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...Disability An award of PTD benefits is generally deemed premature before an injured worker reaches MMI. See Anderson & Padgett Sawmill v. Collins, 686 So.2d 795 (Fla. 1st DCA 1997). An exception was created, however, with the statutory amendments to sections 440.15(2) and (4), Florida Statu......