Brown v. Lifetime Florida Steps, 94-829
| Citation | 650 So.2d 150 |
| Decision Date | 07 February 1995 |
| Docket Number | No. 94-829,94-829 |
| Parties | 20 Fla. L. Weekly D376 Steve BROWN, Appellant, v. LIFETIME FLORIDA STEPS and FCCI c/o FEISCO, Appellees. |
| Court | Court of Appeal of Florida (US) |
William L. Welker, Ft. Myers, and Bill McCabe, Longwood, for appellant.
Joseph R. North of Henderson, Franklin, Starnes & Holt, P.A., Ft. Myers, for appellees.
Claimant, Steve Brown, appeals an order denying his claim for temporary partial disability benefits from May 24, 1993, through July 7, 1993, as well as denying his claims for massage therapy and attorney's fees, costs and penalties. We find no merit in the argument with regard to the denial of the claim for massage therapy, and affirm on that issue. However, we reverse the denial of temporary partial disability benefits, as well as the denial of attorney's fees, costs and penalties for that claim, because the JCC erred in ruling that the claimant was not entitled to temporary partial disability benefits because he had achieved maximum medical improvement (MMI) on May 24, 1993.
Steve Brown, was a body builder in his thirties at the time of his industrial accident. He was working for Lifetime Florida Steps, a company which made concrete products varying in weight and size up to 400 pounds. Mr. Brown was a foreman, with a wide range of responsibilities including sales, deliveries, mixing cement, and taking payments. On April 14, 1992, Mr. Brown was thrown off the back of a truck, twelve feet in the air, suffering injuries to his chest and spine. There is no dispute that this was a compensable accident. He came under the care of Dr. Arpin, a neurosurgeon, on October 19, 1992. Dr. Arpin performed surgery on October 27, 1992, and continued as his physician until June 1993. Dr. Arpin stated that claimant had reached MMI and gave him a permanent impairment rating on May 24, 1993, and released him from her care with a referral to a physiatrist 1 in June 1993, after stating that she could do nothing more for him. Mr. Brown did not have his first appointment with the physiatrist, Dr. Roggow, until July 8, 1993. At that time she found that he was not at MMI from a physiatric viewpoint. Dr. Roggow had no express opinion about the condition of the claimant in the interim period between his last appointment with Dr. Arpin and her first examination of him, although she did testify that, in her opinion, the claimant's myofascial pain syndrome was directly related to his industrial accident. Dr. Roggow achieved objective improvement in claimant's condition through her treatment, and opined that Mr. Brown reached MMI on ...
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D'Andrea v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., WAL-MART
...point of view is not overall MMI, especially since a referral was made to a physiatrist. See, for example, Brown v. Lifetime Florida Steps, 650 So.2d 150 (Fla. 1st DCA 1995), wherein the claimant's neurosurgeon opined that the claimant was at MMI as of May 24, 1993; thereupon she released h......
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...finding that Claimant reached MMI on September 5, 2006 is not supported by competent, substantial evidence. In Brown v. Lifetime Florida Steps, 650 So.2d 150 (Fla. 1st DCA 1995), this court held that the JCC's determination that the claimant was not entitled to temporary partial disability ......