Honeycutt v. R.G. Butlers Dairy, 87-467

• Decision Date: 20 May 1988
• Docket Number: No. 87-467,87-467
• Citation: 13 Fla. L. Weekly 1220,525 So.2d 984
• Parties: 13 Fla. L. Weekly 1220 Terry HONEYCUTT, Appellant, v. R.G. BUTLERS DAIRY and Whiting National Services, Appellees.
• Court: Florida District Court of Appeals

Page 984

525 So.2d 984

13 Fla. L. Weekly 1220

Terry HONEYCUTT, Appellant, v. R.G. BUTLERS DAIRY and Whiting National Services, Appellees.

No. 87-467.

District Court of Appeal of Florida First District.

May 20, 1988.

Rehearing Denied June 23, 1988.

Steven M. Dunn, of Dunn and Johnson, P.A., Miami, for appellant.

Claire Hamner, of Dickinson, O'Riorden, Gibbons, Quale, Shields & Carlton, P.A., Sarasota, for appellees.

MILLS, Judge.

Terry Honeycutt appeals from the denial by the Deputy Commissioner (D/C) of his claim for attendant care services from the date of his accident, 4 September 1979, to the present and continuing. We reverse.

On 4 September 1979, Honeycutt suffered a herniated disc when he was knocked down and stepped on by a cow in the course and scope of his employment with E/C. Initially, Honeycutt was placed in a back brace and ordered to maintain strict bed rest. From 4 September to 10 December 1979, it was the testimony of his treating orthopedic surgeon that Honeycutt required assistance with meals, bathing, ambulation, sanitary functions, and getting in and out of his brace, to the extent of three to four hours a day. On 10 December 1979, Honeycutt underwent the first of three operations on his back, in an attempt to perform a spinal fusion. Again, it was the testimony of his physician, Dr. Massam, that from 10 December 1979 to 10 March 1980, Honeycutt required eight hours per day of attendant care services, consisting of helping him in and out of bed, helping him with a complicated back brace, dressing him, bathing him, taking him to and from the bathroom, and massaging his legs, which due to the brace were subject to cramping. These same services were required to a lesser extent, four hours per day, from 10 March to 12 September 1980, according to Massam.

On 12 September 1980, Honeycutt underwent the second of his back surgeries. It was Massam's opinion that from 12 September to 12 December 1980, Honeycutt required six to eight hours per day of attendant care, consisting of help in applying and changing his TNS unit, administering his medications, getting him in and out of and supervising while he was in a whirlpool, fixing his meals, bathing him and dressing him. After this surgery, on 24 October 1983, the deputy commissioner entered an order finding Honeycutt PTD as a result of his injury, which order was affirmed by this court on 7 June 1984. In March 1984, Honeycutt underwent stomach surgery to repair ulcers caused by the stress of his injury and by the numerous medications which he was required to take as a result of that injury. This surgery temporarily added bodily lifting to the wife's duties, so that Honeycutt would not tear his stitches. Dr. Massam last saw Honeycutt in November 1984, and it was his opinion that from 12 December 1980 until that time, Honeycutt had needed four hours of attendant care services per day.

In January 1985, Honeycutt came under the care of another orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Sonni, who diagnosed him as having suffered a spinal stenosis, i.e. a narrowing of the canal through which the spinal cord passes, as a result of the injury and the two subsequent surgeries. From January 1985 to November 1985, Dr. Sonni treated Honeycutt conservatively, with traction and muscle relaxants. It was Sonni's opinion that from January 1985 to 3 May 1985, Honeycutt required eight hours per day attendant care to assist him in properly maintaining the required traction, as well as in the activities of daily living, such as going to and from the bathroom, bathing, receiving his medication, dressing, getting in and out of his back brace, having food prepared, and receiving assistance with his TNS unit. In Sonni's opinion, from 3 May to 4 November 1985 Honeycutt had sufficiently improved so that the required care lessened to a period of two hours per day for the same functions. On 4 November 1985, Sonni performed a third operation on Honeycutt's back, again a spinal fusion, and it was his opinion that full-time attendant care (eight hours per day) was required until 10 February 1986, and that at least one hour per day thereafter was required on a permanent basis. In November 1986, Honeycutt underwent a second stomach surgery to repair a hernia which he had acquired by attempting to adjust his traction. In addition to her other duties, this surgery required the wife to engage in additional lifting, and in changing a wound dressing three times per day.

On 26 May 1987, a licensed practical nurse, Hunter, paid a home visit to observe Honeycutt and his wife and to see the services which he actually required. In her opinion, Honeycutt needed assistance in taking his medication, in getting in and out of and being supervised in the whirlpool, in the application of and the changing of the pads and gel for his TNS unit, in receiving massage for his leg cramps, in dressing, in doing leg extensions after massage in an attempt to ease the muscle cramps, in administering his traction and in applying his back...