Jackson v. Greyhound Lines, Inc., S

• Decision Date: 20 July 1987
• Docket Number: No. S,S
• Citation: 734 S.W.2d 617
• Parties: Walter N. JACKSON, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. GREYHOUND LINES, INC., Defendant-Appellant. /C 86-50-I 734 S.W.2d 617
• Court: Tennessee Supreme Court

Page 617

734 S.W.2d 617

Walter N. JACKSON, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. GREYHOUND LINES, INC., Defendant-Appellant.

No. S/C 86-50-I

734 S.W.2d 617

Supreme Court of Tennessee at Knoxville.

July 20, 1987.

Gareth S. Aden, Dodson, Harris, Robinson & Aden, Nashville, for defendant-appellant.

Mark J. Fishburn, Bednarz & Fishburn, Nashville, for plaintiff-appellee.

OPINION

DROWOTA, Justice.

This Workers' Compensation appeal fundamentally presents two issues: (1) whether the award of certain past and future medical expenses was appropriate and (2) whether the extent of disability was properly determined. Plaintiff, Walter N. Jackson, was awarded additional medical attendance for injuries sustained on the job and was determined to retain a permanent partial disability of 35 percent to the body as a whole. Defendant, Greyhound Lines, Inc., a self-insured employer, has appealed. Defendant does not dispute that Plaintiff suffered a compensable injury and has voluntarily paid temporary total disability benefits, certain past medical expenses, and benefits representing compensation for a 20 percent permanent partial disability to the body as a whole. Plaintiff has made a motion for a finding that this is a frivolous appeal.

On January 15, 1982, Plaintiff, a mechanic for Greyhound Lines, was working to start a bus when the engine started and engaged in reverse gear; the bus rolled back, pinning Plaintiff between the bus and the service truck and pushing Plaintiff for some distance. Plaintiff's pelvis was crushed; he lost consciousness and was taken immediately to Nashville General Hospital, where he was diagnosed as sustaining a bilateral pelvic fracture. Initial treatment consisted of traction and immobilization for approximately two weeks. Conservative treatment continued in the hospital and Mr. Jackson was subsequently mobilized by the use of a walker and then by crutches. When he was discharged from the hospital on February 26, 1982, he was still dependent on crutches. In March, 1982, he was readmitted for a short period for treatment of abnormal potassium levels in his blood.

Following his discharge from the hospital, a number of consequent complications arose due to the nature of his injury and of the treatment. The primary problem was loss of sexual function. Plaintiff found that after the accident he was no longer able to maintain an erection, which problem he had not experienced previously. When this condition did not improve, he sought medical treatment from Dr. Paul A. Johnson, who referred him to Dr. David H. Morgan for diagnosis and treatment. In addition, Plaintiff continued to manifest symptoms of renal insufficiency, which had appeared in the hospital and had caused elevated levels of potassium in his blood. While in the hospital, Plaintiff's left shoulder also began to bother him, and although he did not complain about it initially because he thought it would disappear, he eventually informed Dr. Ronald Rosenthal of his symptoms on March 29, 1982, during an out-patient follow-up examination at General Hospital. Dr. Rosenthal diagnosed the condition as a degenerative tear in the left rotator cuff of the shoulder. Although released from treatment in August, 1982, Plaintiff's condition did not improve and he continued to seek medical care for his problems. Defendant, however, refused to pay for the necessary diagnostic tests for and treatment of his impotence and also denied that the problem with his left shoulder was causally related to the accident. Plaintiff then resorted to filing this action on February 7, 1984, to recover unpaid compensation benefits. Trial was held on June 5, 1986.

At trial, Plaintiff testified that he was 52 years old at the time of the accident and that he had started working for Greyhound in 1961 as a mechanic's aide; he worked as a general mechanic for defendant for 18 years prior to the accident. Because he had passed out, he could not recall whether his shoulder had been involved in the accident; nevertheless, he stated that prior to this accident he had no significant physical limitations. All of his present symptoms and problems appeared following the accident. While he has returned to work for Defendant, he is no longer able to work as he did prior to the injury. He tires easily, cannot lift as well, and cannot stand for long periods without experiencing back pain. Other limitations include muscle spasms in his back and legs, an inability to bend at times, and a diminished capacity to walk long distances. His job requires him to stand for extended periods and he now must request assistance to complete work tasks he previously performed alone. Plaintiff's wife confirmed that his abilities and stamina have been impaired as a result of the accident. He is not as able to help with household chores, seems irritable, and complains of problems with his back, legs, and left shoulder. She also stated that he tires readily and suffers from some memory loss. Moreover, Mrs. Jackson corroborated that Plaintiff's impotence developed only after the accident and did not predate his injury. Although Plaintiff does have two years of college education and some training in other skills than as a mechanic, he has not worked in any other position than as a mechanic or mechanic's aide for over twenty years. At the time of trial, he was 56 years old; he has four children, ages five to twenty-two years old.

The depositions of four doctors were accepted into evidence. To some extent, the evidence conflicted regarding whether Plaintiff's subsequent problems with impotence and with his shoulder were caused by the accident. The material evidence supporting the trial court's determinations on these issues is summarized here. Dr. Johnson, a specialist in internal medicine, first saw Plaintiff on September 18, 1984. His physical examination of Plaintiff revealed that his renal functions had not returned to normal. Recovery of normal kidney function is sometimes problematic and considering the lapse of time since the injury, Plaintiff's condition had probably reached maximum improvement. Dr. Johnson noted that Plaintiff complained about his shoulder, legs, and back as well as his impotence. He referred Plaintiff to a urologist for diagnosis and treatment of his erectile problem. Dr. Johnson found some indication of a pre-existing renal condition and possibly some degree of hypertension but he believed that the renal problems were aggravated by the trauma of the accident and was unable to confirm the existence of any hypertension.

Dr. Lloyd A. Walwyn, an orthopedic surgeon, saw Plaintiff for evaluation on August 25, 1982; Plaintiff was referred to him by his attorney. Plaintiff's complaints centered on his back problems and his left shoulder. Dr. Walwyn examined Plaintiff and concluded that the crushed pelvis was his major injury, which in turn had caused renal failure, and that his shoulder condition developed when Plaintiff was immobilized for the first ten days to two weeks of hospitalization. X-rays showed that the pelvic bones were disrupted and the pubic joint, in the area of the genitals, was dislocated; he also found that the left shoulder displayed a degenerative change in the joint, leaving Plaintiff with a markedly decreased range of motion. A number of objective indications of injury were present. His opinion was that, even assuming Plaintiff had a pre-existing degenerative condition in his shoulder, immobilization after the accident had aggravated the condition. He rated Plaintiff's anatomical impairment at 20 percent permanent partial disability to the body as a whole due to the pelvic injury and, separately, an additional 8 percent permanent partial disability to the body as a whole due to the left shoulder problem.

The urologist to whom Dr. Johnson had referred Plaintiff, Dr. Morgan, examined Plaintiff and sent him to West Side Hospital for two nights, October 24 and 25, 1984, to conduct sleep studies to determine whether his impotence had a psychological or physiological cause. These tests indicated conclusively that the Plaintiff's inability to maintain an erection was physiological, resulting in a diagnosis of significant erectile dysfunction. The available treatment for this condition consists of an implantation of a penile prosthesis. While Dr. Morgan testified that trauma does not ordinarily cause impotence, he expressed the opinion that the Plaintiff's injury possibly caused this problem and, although he was not absolutely certain, he believed that "any time you disrupt the pelvis ... that could easily and readily cause difficulty." He was convinced that the severe disruption of Plaintiff's pelvis and the involvement of the pubic joint caused Plaintiff's impotence.

The Defendant called Dr. Rosenthal, an orthopedic surgeon, who...