Florida Distillers v. Rudd, No. 1D97-4370.
| Court | Court of Appeal of Florida (US) |
| Writing for the Court | VAN NORTWICK, J. |
| Citation | 751 So.2d 754 |
| Parties | FLORIDA DISTILLERS and Humana Workers' Compensation Services, Appellants, v. Johnny RUDD, Appellee. |
| Docket Number | No. 1D97-4370. |
| Decision Date | 01 March 2000 |
751 So.2d 754
FLORIDA DISTILLERS and Humana Workers' Compensation Services, Appellants,v.
Johnny RUDD, Appellee
No. 1D97-4370.
District Court of Appeal of Florida, First District.
March 1, 2000.
Susan W. Fox of Macfarlane Ferguson & McMullen, Tampa and H. Guy Smith of Smith & Feddeler, P.A., Lakeland, for Appellee.
VAN NORTWICK, J.
In this worker's compensation appeal, Florida Distillers and Humana Workers' Compensation Services, jointly the employer/carrier, challenge an order which awarded indemnity benefits, including permanent and total disability benefits, and medical treatment to Johnny Rudd, the appellee and claimant below. We affirm as to all eight issues raised on appeal, although we write on only three issues.
Factual and Procedural Background
On July 28, 1995, while working as a forklift operator, Rudd lifted a propane fuel tank weighing approximately 100 pounds. As he was doing so, Rudd heard "pops" in his back and immediately experienced back pain radiating into both legs causing him to fall to his knees. The accident was reported and, after some initial delay in responding to Rudd's request for treatment, the employer/carrier authorized treatment by Lowell Zeid, M.D., a general practitioner. Prior to the workplace accident of July 28, 1995, Rudd had been under the care of Robert Martinez, M.D., a board certified neurologist, for treatment of injuries sustained in a motor vehicle accident on January 25, 1994. Rudd presented to Dr. Martinez after the workplace accident as well. On August 29, 1995, after Dr. Martinez had been told of the workplace accident, an MRI was performed which revealed disc bulging at L3-4 and L4-5. Several weeks after the accident, Rudd left his job with the employer, because pain prevented him from working.
In addition to the treatment for his back injuries prior to the workplace accident, Rudd also received treatment for depression from a licensed clinical social worker, Debra Segal, and from a psychiatrist. Rudd was last seen by Segal on June 1, 1995, approximately two months before the workplace accident. After the workplace accident, Rudd reported difficulty sleeping and experienced consistent depression and suicidal ideation. The employer/carrier authorized Charles Dack, M.D., a psychiatrist, to conduct an evaluation, and he diagnosed Rudd as suffering from major depression. Dr. Dack recommended psychiatric treatment, and the employer/carrier authorized Dr. Dack to render such treatment. Dr. Dack placed Rudd at maximum medical improvement (MMI) from a psychiatric point of view on September 12, 1996, with a 5% permanent impairment relating to the body as a whole, which Dr. Dack opined was causally related to the workplace accident.
Rudd presented to Arturo Gonzalez, M.D., a psychiatrist, on July 12, 1996.
Rudd sought temporary total disability (TTD) and/or temporary partial disability (TPD) benefits from the date of the accident until June 11, 1996, the date of MMI as to Rudd's neurological condition, as well as permanent total disability (PTD) benefits from the date of MMI. Rudd also sought past and future medical care as the nature of the injury and the process of...
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Crawford & Company v. Apfel, No. 99-2201
...yet made her own independent findings. This is in accordance with Florida case law.24 Most recently, in Florida Distillers v. Rudd, 751 So.2d 754 (Fla. 1st DCA 2000), the court Nevertheless, despite the statutory intent to render PTD status comparable to disability under the Social Security......
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FEDERAL NAT. MORTG. ASS'N v. Fandino, No. 3D99-1546.
...the process was mailed by registered mail; [3] the name and address on the envelope containing the process; [4] the fact that the process 751 So.2d 754 was mailed registered mail return receipt requested; [5] who signed the return receipt, if known, and the basis for that knowledge; and the......
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Walgreen Co. v. Carver, No. 1D99-4411.
...the social security disability standard for catastrophic injury. See § 440.02(34)(f), Fla. Stat. (1995); Florida Distillers v. Rudd, 751 So.2d 754, 756 (Fla. 1st DCA 2000); Alachua County Adult Detention Ctr. v. Alford, 727 So.2d 388, 391 (Fla. 1st DCA 1999). The social security disability ......
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Jefferson v. Wayne Dalton Corp./Hartford, No. 1D00-2608.
...was in place at the time of the work place injury in order to rely on the exhaustion requirement, citing Florida Distillers v. Rudd, 751 So.2d 754, 757 (Fla. 1st DCA Beginning January 1, 1997, however, managed care arrangements became mandatory for every insurer. See § 440.134(2)(b), Fla. S......
-
Crawford & Company v. Apfel, No. 99-2201
...yet made her own independent findings. This is in accordance with Florida case law.24 Most recently, in Florida Distillers v. Rudd, 751 So.2d 754 (Fla. 1st DCA 2000), the court Nevertheless, despite the statutory intent to render PTD status comparable to disability under the Social Security......
-
FEDERAL NAT. MORTG. ASS'N v. Fandino, No. 3D99-1546.
...the process was mailed by registered mail; [3] the name and address on the envelope containing the process; [4] the fact that the process 751 So.2d 754 was mailed registered mail return receipt requested; [5] who signed the return receipt, if known, and the basis for that knowledge; and the......
-
Walgreen Co. v. Carver, No. 1D99-4411.
...the social security disability standard for catastrophic injury. See § 440.02(34)(f), Fla. Stat. (1995); Florida Distillers v. Rudd, 751 So.2d 754, 756 (Fla. 1st DCA 2000); Alachua County Adult Detention Ctr. v. Alford, 727 So.2d 388, 391 (Fla. 1st DCA 1999). The social security disability ......
-
Jefferson v. Wayne Dalton Corp./Hartford, No. 1D00-2608.
...was in place at the time of the work place injury in order to rely on the exhaustion requirement, citing Florida Distillers v. Rudd, 751 So.2d 754, 757 (Fla. 1st DCA Beginning January 1, 1997, however, managed care arrangements became mandatory for every insurer. See § 440.134(2)(b), Fla. S......