Nettles v. Spartanburg School Dist.# 7, No. 3213.

• Court: Court of Appeals of South Carolina
• Writing for the Court: CURETON.
• Citation: 341 S.C. 580,535 S.E.2d 146
• Parties: Katherine Jane NETTLES, Appellant, v. SPARTANBURG SCHOOL DISTRICT # 7, Employer, and SC School Boards Self-Insurance Trust Fund, Carrier, Respondents.
• Decision Date: 10 July 2000
• Docket Number: No. 3213.

341 S.C. 580
535 S.E.2d 146

Katherine Jane NETTLES, Appellant,
v.
SPARTANBURG SCHOOL DISTRICT # 7, Employer, and SC School Boards Self-Insurance Trust Fund, Carrier, Respondents

No. 3213.

Court of Appeals of South Carolina.

Heard May 10, 2000.

Decided July 10, 2000.

Rehearing Denied September 2, 2000.

341 S.C. 583

James C. Cothran, Jr., and Laura A. Filler, both of Spartanburg, for appellant

Michael A. Farry and David A. Wilson, both of Horton, Drawdy, Ward & Black, of Greenville, for respondents.

CURETON, Judge:

In this workers' compensation case, Katherine Nettles appeals the order of the circuit court affirming the full commission's findings that she reached maximum medical improvement (MMI) on April 14, 1997; sustained a compensable injury to her spine and stomach; and was entitled to permanent partial disability of 25% and 10%, respectively. Nettles contends she should have been awarded total or partial disability benefits under the general disability statutes, or, alternatively, the commission should have recognized the injury to her right lower extremity. Furthermore, she contends the commission erred in failing to order her employer to pay the medical bills for her stomach problems and in determining that she reached MMI on April 14, 1997, rather than in June of 1997. We affirm in part, reverse in part and remand.

FACTS

On April 16, 1993, Nettles sustained an injury by accident to her spine while opening a box of textbooks as part of her employment with Spartanburg County School District # 7 (Employer). Nettles sought treatment of the injury from a neurologist, Dr. John K. Johnson, in June of 1993. Initially, Dr. Johnson treated Nettles' injury conservatively with therapy;

341 S.C. 584

however, when the pain persisted he performed an anterior cervical diskectomy of the C5 and C6 vertebrae and an autogenous iliac bone graft fusion (collectively "ACDF") on February 1, 1994. The ACDF procedure involved the harvesting of bone from Nettles' right iliac crest for use in the fusion of two vertebrae in Nettles' spine.¹ Nettles recovered nicely from the ACDF surgery and was released from Dr. Johnson's care on April 18, 1994

On August 24, 1994, Nettles filed a Form 50 with the South Carolina Workers' Compensation Commission (commission) claiming total specific disability of her back and neck resulting from the aforementioned injury by accident. She also requested a hearing before the commission.

On November 2, 1994, approximately seven months after Dr. Johnson released Nettles from his care following the ACDF surgery, she returned to Dr. Johnson for pain emanating from the incision made during the graft taken from her iliac crest. After several office visits, Dr. Johnson was unable to determine the cause of Nettles' discomfort, so he performed exploratory surgery of the iliac crest on February 13, 1995. The surgery did not relieve the pain so Dr. Johnson referred Nettles to a general surgeon, Dr. Joseph McAlhany, who performed a third surgery on her iliac crest in June of 1995.

Dr. Johnson prescribed various medicines to treat the pain in Nettles' iliac crest, including Ansaid, Tylenol # 4, Lortab 5, Snyalgos DC, Ultram, Inderal, Ativan, Phenergan (for nausea), and Elavil (for depression). As she took these medicines, Nettles began to experience weight loss, nausea, and weakness.

On February 6, 1996, Nettles collapsed while attending vocational rehabilitation therapy at the Center for Health and Occupational Services. She was rushed to the Mary Black Memorial Hospital where it was discovered that she had severe anemia, stomach ulcerations, and was underweight. Dr. Frank Lopez, a gastroenterologist, opined to a degree of medical certainty that the cause of Nettles' ulcers were some of the medications she had been prescribed during the treatment

341 S.C. 585

of the pain in the iliac crest. Dr. Lopez could not assign any impairment rating for Nettles' gastrointestinal disorder because he could not assess other factors such as stress or physical activity

On May 2, 1997, the Employer filed a Form 21 with the commission for a hearing to stop payment because Nettles had reached MMI and to pay compensation in the amount of 19% to the leg.² The hearing was conducted on July 25, 1997, before a Single Commissioner (commissioner). The commissioner issued his final decision on August 13, 1997. In a section entitled "Evidence of the Case," the commissioner noted that Nettles claimed varying degrees of disability to her neck, hip and stomach due to the injury by accident. In that same section, the commissioner recited the medical evidence concerning the treatment Nettles received for a spinal injury, pain in the iliac region, and gastrointestinal problems resulting from the "nonsteroidal medication" prescribed by Dr. Johnson. The commissioner went on to make "findings of fact" which included a finding that Nettles suffered permanent partial disability of 25% for the injury to her spine and 10% for the injury to her stomach. There were no findings of fact concerning the problems associated with the iliac crest.

On August 25, 1997, Nettles filed a Form 30 requesting the commission review the decision of the commissioner. Specifically, Nettles raised the issue of whether the "Commissioner err[ed] in failing to find that [Nettles] had a compensable injury to her right iliac crest." By order dated February 26, 1998, the commission adopted the commissioner's findings of fact and conclusions of law in their entirety and affirmed the commissioner.

Nettles perfected a timely appeal of the commission's decision to the circuit court which affirmed the commission in an

341 S.C. 586

order dated December 10, 1998. Although the circuit court noted that Nettles set forth seven exceptions to the commission's decision including its "failure to award permanent partial disability to the right iliac crest," the court found there was substantial evidence in the record to support the commission's failure to award any disability to the right iliac crest.

LAW/ANALYSIS

The Administrative Procedures Act establishes the standard of review for decisions by the South Carolina Workers' Compensation Commission. Lark v. Bi-Lo, Inc., 276 S.C. 130, 276 S.E.2d 304 (1981). The reviewing court may not substitute its "judgment for that of the Commission as to the weight of the evidence on questions of fact, but may reverse where the decision is affected by an error of law." Lester v. South Carolina Workers' Compensation Comm'n, 328 S.C. 535, 538, 493 S.E.2d 103, 105 (Ct.App.1997) rev'd in part on other grounds 334 S.C. 557, 514 S.E.2d 751 (1999). We must affirm the commission's decision unless it is "`clearly erroneous' in view of the substantial evidence on the whole record." Lark, 276 S.C. at 136, 276 S.E.2d at 307. Substantial evidence is evidence that, in viewing the record as a whole, would allow reasonable minds to reach the same conclusion that the full commission reached. Miller v. State Roofing Co., 312 S.C. 452, 441 S.E.2d 323 (1994).

I.

Nettles argues the circuit court erred by affirming the commission which analyzed her various ailments as separate specific disabilities rather than amalgamating them into a general disability. The employer responds by asserting that "[g]eneral disability is not now, and never has been a part of this case." Although we believe Nettles properly raised a claim of general disability to the commission, we find no evidence in the record of lost earning capacity to support such a claim. Accordingly, we affirm the decision below.

On August 24, 1994, Nettles filed a Form 50 with the commission seeking workers' compensation benefits for a permanent

341 S.C. 587

disability of her "neck and back."³ By "checking a box" in paragraph 8 of the Form 50, Nettles characterized the "nature and extent" of her disability as "Specific" rather than "General." However, during...