Blackshear v. Bethune Cookman College
| Decision Date | 26 March 1985 |
| Docket Number | No. BA-48,BA-48 |
| Citation | 467 So.2d 721,10 Fla. L. Weekly 786 |
| Parties | 24 Ed. Law Rep. 1071, 10 Fla. L. Weekly 786 Herbert E. BLACKSHEAR, Appellant, v. BETHUNE COOKMAN COLLEGE and Liberty Mutual Insurance Co., Appellees. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Mark A. Olewinski, Lake Mary, for appellant.
Paul Smalbein of Smalbein, Eubank, Johnson, Rosier & Bussey, Daytona Beach, for appellees.
Claimant seeks review of a workers' compensation order in which the deputy refused to order a psychiatric evaluation and refused to award attorney's fees and costs incurred. We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand with directions.
Claimant was employed by Bethune Cookman College as a counselor when on May 7, 1984, in the process of moving a box of books, he struck his right arm on a door frame. At first claimant ignored the injury, but when his arm began to turn dark and to swell he consulted his family physician, Dr. Parnell. Claimant was hospitalized from May 10, 1982, through May 23, 1982, due to thrombophlebitis of the axillary vein in his right arm. Claimant stated that from the date of his hospital discharge up until the date of the hearing in this cause, he continued to have pain in his right arm and continued to receive treatment for his right arm from Dr. Parnell. Dr. Bolt, a vascular surgeon who examined claimant in consultation with Dr. Parnell during claimant's May 1982 hospitalization, concurred with Dr. Parnell's diagnosis that claimant's symptoms were related to axillary vein thrombosis. Dr. Parnell characterized claimant's present condition as "chronic venous insufficiency ... a post-phlebitic syndrome ... [with] constant swelling of the arm and ... periodic episodes where he does have pain."
On May 11, 1983, claimant filed a claim for benefits due to the arm injury. At the hearing, the deputy heard testimony of the claimant and a rehabilitation nurse. The rehabilitation nurse felt that claimant's disability was due primarily to athletic injuries he had sustained prior to the industrial injury. In addition, the employer and carrier proferred a medical report from a specialist in cardiovascular disorders, who had concluded that claimant did not have a significant vascular problem. Due to these conflicting medical reports and opinions, the deputy directed claimant to undergo an independent medical evaluation by Dr. Derbenwick, with cost to be borne by the employer and carrier.
Dr. Derbenwick examined claimant on July 26, 1983, and diagnosed his condition as right cervical radiculopathy involving the C-6 and C-7 nerve roots. In a deposition taken on November 11, 1983, Dr. Derbenwick was of the opinion that claimant's cervical radiculopathy may have been aggravated by the industrial accident of May 1982, but she felt the accident was not the primary event. The doctor recommended a CT scan of claimant's neck and an EMG on his right arm.
Dr. Derbenwick was deposed a second time on May 4, 1984. Based on the reports of the medical tests she had recommended, Dr. Derbenwick modified her earlier diagnosis and determined that claimant did not have any evidence of a radiculopathy involving his right arm. According to Dr. Derbenwick, claimant's condition requires psychiatric care because he is suffering from a pain syndrome that she could not account for neurologically. When questioned by counsel for the employer and carrier regarding causal connection or lack of causal connection between claimant's pain syndrome and the industrial injury, Dr. Derbenwick stated the medical history reflects that the industrial injury was the "final straw" for claimant in a series of other medical problems. She recommended that claimant have a psychiatric evaluation.
The deputy found no competent substantial evidence to support a finding that claimant "has sustained or harbors...
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...claim for and order requiring continuing psychiatric treatment, not merely a psychiatric evaluation. Compare Blackshear v. Bethune Cookman College, 467 So.2d 721 (Fla. 1st DCA 1985) (held claimant entitled to evaluation), with Metropolitan Transit Authority v. Bradshaw, 478 So.2d 115 (Fla. ......
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Kentucky Fried Chicken v. Tyler, 97-1449
...Mann, 690 So.2d 649, 650 (Fla. 1st DCA 1997). We affirm, however, the award of a psychiatric evaluation. See Blackshear v. Bethune Cookman College, 467 So.2d 721 (Fla. 1st DCA 1985). "To be compensable, a post-traumatic mental disorder must be the direct and immediate result of the industri......
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...such an evaluation is reasonably required by the nature of the claimant's injury or his process of recovery. Blackshear v. Bethune Cookman College, 467 So.2d 721 (Fla. 1st DCA 1985). Racz v. Chennault, Inc. 418 So.2d 413 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982). The record shows that a number of the doctors who......