Lovett v. Delta Reg'l Med. Ctr., 2013–WC–00410–COA.

• Decision Date: 29 April 2014
• Docket Number: No. 2013–WC–00410–COA.,2013–WC–00410–COA.
• Citation: 157 So.3d 90
• Parties: Yvonne LOVETT, Appellant v. DELTA REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER and MHA Solutions, Appellees.
• Court: Mississippi Court of Appeals

157 So.3d 90

Yvonne LOVETT, Appellant

v.DELTA REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER and MHA Solutions, Appellees.

No. 2013–WC–00410–COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

April 29, 2014.

Rehearing Denied Aug. 19, 2014.

Frank H. Shaw Jr., Kosciusko, attorney for appellant.

R. Brittain Virden, Greenville, attorney for appellees.

Before IRVING, P.J., CARLTON, and MAXWELL, JJ.

Opinion

CARLTON, J., for the Court:

¶ 1. This appeal stems from two workers' compensation claims filed by Yvonne Lovett: one arising out of a slip-and-fall injury occurring on March 8, 2006, and a second incident, seven months after Lovett returned to work, where she suffered a stroke allegedly caused by her employment. The cases were consolidated by order of the administrative judge (AJ).

¶ 2. After a hearing on the merits, the AJ found: (1) Lovett suffered a thirty percent loss of wage-earning capacity due to her slip-and-fall injury; (2) her stroke incident was non-compensable; (3) her medical treatments by Dr. Vaishali Shah and Dr. Abdel Aziz, as well as her evaluation by psychiatrist Dr. Chester Jenkins, were within the chain of referral and thus the financial obligation of her employer, Delta Regional Medical Center, and its insurance carrier; and (4) Lovett's medical treatments by her neurologist, Dr. Ravi Pande, were not for any conditions caused by her work-related injuries.

¶ 3. Delta Regional appealed the AJ's order to the full Workers' Compensation Commission, which reversed the order of the AJ. The Commission held that: (1) Lovett failed to establish a loss of wage-earning capacity due to her slip-and-fall injury; and (2) that her medical treatments by Dr. Aziz, Dr. Shah, and Dr. Jenkins were outside of the chain of referral. The Commission affirmed the AJ's finding that Lovett's second claim, stemming from her stroke, was non-compensable. Lovett now appeals, arguing that the Commission erred by denying permanent disability benefits to Lovett. In finding the Commission's decision not to be against the overwhelming weight of the evidence, but rather supported by the substantial evidence in the record, we affirm the Commission's findings.

FACTS

¶ 4. On March 8, 2006, Yvonne Lovett slipped and fell in the hallway of Delta Regional Medical Center, resulting in injuries to her back and her right knee. Lovett worked at Delta Regional as a security guard. Her duties consisted of securing the premises and serving as law enforcement while on the hospital grounds. Lovett's injuries occurred while performing her usual duties. On the date of her injuries, Lovett claims, the hallway floor had been mopped, but no “Wet Floor” signs were posted to alert her or other hospital patients and visitors.

¶ 5. As a result of her injuries, Lovett received treatment from chiropractor Dr. Harry Dorsey, as well as from Dr. Greg Gober and Dr. Allen Thompson, her family doctor. Lovett's medical treatment was approved by Delta Regional's workers's compensation carrier. Dr. Thompson referred Lovett to Dr. Jack Moriarity, a neurosurgeon in Jackson, Mississippi, who performed a microlumbar discectomy on June 16, 2006, also approved by the workers's compensation carrier. Dr. Moriarity then referred Lovett to an orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Walter Shelton, for her knee injury. Dr. Shelton performed a surgical repair of her right medial meniscus tear on August 14, 2006. Dr. Moriarity also referred Lovett to Dr. Rahul Vohra, a physical-medicine specialist who treated her for back and knee pain. Dr. Vohra determined that Lovett's date of maximum medical improvement (MMI) was November 28, 2006. Delta Regional paid for Lovett's medical treatments and disability benefits resulting from her injury, until she returned to work.

¶ 6. After the March 8, 2006 injury, Lovett returned to work on October 11, 2006, and continued working through April 28, 2007, implementing physical-work restrictions recommended by her doctors but still complaining of knee pain. At a hospital staff meeting on April 23, 2007, Lovett felt that she had been singled out for criticism of her job duties. Lovett testified that after the meeting, her supervisor sent her home to be off work until they called her.

¶ 7. Lovett returned to full duty to work on the late shift Friday night, April 28, 2007. During this shift, Lovett sought treatment in the hospital emergency room, complaining of dizziness and left-arm weakness. Lovett was treated for “a transient ischemic attack [ (TIA) ] or stroke.”

¶ 8. Lovett received treatment from Dr. Thompson on April 28, 2007, for symptoms of her TIA, as well as for back and right-knee pain, which Lovett described as “chronic.” Dr. Thompson referred Lovett to Dr. Pande for her neurological symptoms, which Dr. Thompson described as questionable multiple sclerosis. Dr. Pande treated Lovett until September 13, 2007. When Dr. Pande released Lovett from his treatment, he confirmed that she had no medical impairments from her TIA and no permanent deficits or injury from her TIA. Lovett also received treatment from Dr. Aziz at the Greenwood Pain Management Clinic and Dr. Shah at the Leflore Specialty Clinic.

¶ 9. Dr. Thompson also referred Lovett to Dr. Chester Jenkins, a psychiatrist, to explain the apparent severity of her pain syndrome, as well as her depression stemming from her failure to recover from her injuries. The medical-treatments summary provided in the record summarized twenty-four consultations with Lovett by Dr. Jenkins, beginning May 2007 and continuing through September 2010, and all verifying chronic pain from her back and knee injuries. Dr. Jenkins provided deposition testimony stating that Lovett's chronic pain was a significant factor in bringing about her depression. Dr. Jenkins listed the flooding of Lovett's house and the death of her brother as other contributing factors to her depression. Lovett asserts that since Dr. Thompson referred her to Dr. Jenkins, Dr. Jenkins is clearly in the proper chain of referral, and thus the workers's compensation carrier should be required to pay for Dr. Jenkins's treatment of her chronic pain, as well as the depression related to her chronic pain.

¶ 10. Lovett resigned from her job at Delta Regional after her April 2007 TIA. Lovett stated that at the time of her slip-and-fall injury on March 8, 2006, she earned $9.14 an hour for her job at Delta Regional. Lovett testified that when she returned to work on October 11, 2006, after her slip-and-fall injury, her wage increased to $9.32 an hour, and remained at this amount for the next seven months she worked at Delta Regional before suffering the TIA.

¶ 11. On June 22, 2007, Lovett filed a petition to controvert, alleging that she sustained a work-related injury to her spine, right knee, and leg on March 8, 2006. Lovett also filed a petition to controvert on June 22, 2007, alleging that she suffered a stroke and whole-body injury in the course and scope of her employment on April 28, 2007. The cases were consolidated by order of the AJ.

¶ 12. Delta Regional then obtained the services of Bruce Brawner, a vocational rehabilitation specialist, to perform a vocational evaluation of Lovett on December 9, 2011, to determine her employability and post-wage-earning capacity, and to assist her in finding other gainful employment. Brawner testified that he contacted one hundred employers in the Washington County area for possible job openings within the medical limitations outlines for Lovett by Dr. Vohra. Brawner explained that only twenty-five of these potential employers stated that they had possible openings. Brawner forwarded the job prospects to Lovett's attorney. Lovett contacted approximately half of the proposed employers and none of them offered her a job. Lovett stated that she also contacted sixty-four employers beforehand, and received no job offers. Brawner testified that after evaluating Lovett, he opined that she possessed the ability to perform the necessary job duties of a security guard. Brawner stated that he disregarded Lovett's complaints of pain, but clarified that “we certainly hear and consider what the claimants say, but in our field what we have to consider, the bottom line is, what do the doctors say.” Brawner stated that he questioned Lovett's job-search efforts. The record reflects Lovett admitted that she had already applied for Social Security benefits, and that Lovett now receives Social Security benefits of $992 per month.

¶ 13. A hearing was held on April 10, 2012. The AJ acknowledged that the parties had previously stipulated that the March 8, 2006 work-related injury was compensable, and that all permanent total disability benefits resulting from this injury had been paid to Lovett. The AJ found:

[T]he evidence as a whole including but not necessarily limited to [Lovett's] age, education, prior work history, impairment, physical restrictions[,] and job search effort shows that [Lovett] has suffered a 30% loss of wage[-]earning capacity as a result of her March 8, 2006 work-related injury.

However, the AJ found that the evidence presented at the hearing failed to support a finding of compensability as it relates to the April 28, 2007 TIA diagnosis. The AJ then dismissed the claim stemming from the TIA.

¶ 14. The AJ ordered Delta Regional to pay Lovett compensation benefits for the March 8, 2006 work-related injury as follows: permanent partial disability benefits of $73.60 per week beginning November 8, 2006, and continuing for a period of 450 weeks; all reasonable and necessary medical services and supplies as the nature of her injury and the process of her recovery require, including treatment by Dr. Shah and Dr. Aziz. The AJ stated that Delta Regional is responsible only for the initial evaluation by Dr. Jenkins, and not responsible for the initial evaluation or follow-up medical treatment by Dr. Pande. The AJ explained that Dr. Pande saw Lovett on a referral from Dr. Thompson for questionable multiple sclerosis, and not a work-related injury.

¶ 15. Delta Regional appealed the AJ's...