Roberts v. Whirlpool
| Citation | 284 S.W.3d 100,102 Ark. App. 284 |
| Decision Date | 14 May 2008 |
| Docket Number | No. CA 07-1032.,CA 07-1032. |
| Parties | Larry D. ROBERTS, Appellant, v. WHIRLPOOL, Appellee. |
| Court | Court of Appeals of Arkansas |
Walker, Shock & Harp, PLLC, by: Eddie H. Walker, Fort Smith, for appellant.
Conner & Winters, LLP, by: Robert L. Jones, III and Amber J. Prince, Fayetteville, for appellees.
Larry Roberts appeals the decision of the Arkansas Workers' Compensation Commission finding that his cervical injury was not causally connected to his work-related accident. By this two-to-one decision the Commission reversed the opinion of the administrative law judge, who had found the claim compensable. Appellant contends on appeal that substantial evidence does not support the Commission's decision. We reverse and remand for proceedings consistent with this opinion.
Appellant began working for Whirlpool in 1970. On September 10, 2004, when he was fifty-four years old, appellant was moving 1,900 pounds of batteries in a cart, and one of the cart's wheels became stuck in a hole. As he was pulling and jerking on the cart to dislodge it from the hole, appellant felt pain in his left shoulder that shot down his arm. He did not report the incident immediately because it was a Friday and there were only ten minutes left on his shift. However, the pain in his shoulder and arm worsened and spread into his hand, so he went to the emergency room later that evening.
At the emergency room, appellant reported that he had injured himself at work while moving batteries, and he complained of pain to his left shoulder blade that radiated down his arm, and numbness and tingling in the fingers of his left hand. He was given pain medication and muscle relaxers with the recommendation that he have a CT or MRI to rule out the presence of a herniated disc with radiculopathy. Appellant reported the injury to appellee the following Monday, and he was sent to the company doctor, Dr. Thomas Cheyne, still complaining of left shoulder pain and numbness in his left hand. Dr. Cheyne ordered an open-air MRI of the cervical spine as an evaluation for cervical radiculopathy. The MRI was done on September 16, 2004, which showed cervical spinal spondylosis with canal stenosis most pronounced at the C7-T1 level and bilateral degenerative facet joint disease with neuroforaminal narrowing. Small focal disc protrusions were suspected at multiple levels, and the radiologist suggested a spinal myelogram to assess the canal stenosis and to differentiate between disc protrusions and osteophytes. Appellant returned to Dr. Cheyne on September 22, and while Dr. Cheyne placed appellant on a ten-pound weight restriction with no reaching, pulling, pushing or lifting above shoulder level, he ordered no further testing as had been recommended by the radiologist.
Appellant testified that the problems with numbness and tingling in his hands never resolved, and he later developed problems with his back. He had been working with the aid of a helper, but the helper was taken away in December 2004. On his own, appellant made an appointment with his personal physician, Dr. Jeffrey Medlock, on January 26, 2005. While his chief complaint related to his back, appellant also reported pain that radiated down his left arm with numbness and tingling in his left hand. On physical examination, Dr. Medlock noted that there was atrophy in the hypothenar space on the left hand. An MRI of the lumbar spine was taken on that date, but it detected in the cervical area at the C7-T1 level canal stenosis, anterolisthesis, facet hytrophy, ligamentum flavum hypertrophy, and canal narrowing, as well as spondylosis. Hydromelia was also suspected and further imaging of the cervical spine was recommended. At this visit, appellant attributed his problems to the accident at work on September 10, 2004.1
Appellant returned to Dr. Medlock on February 7, 2005, and again complained of numbness in his fingers on the left hand and diminished strength and dexterity. Dr. Medlock made an assessment of radiculopathy in the left upper extremity. In early March, appellant was referred to Dr. Arthur Johnson, a neurosurgeon, for an evaluation related to his back condition. In an office note, Dr. Johnson noted that appellant's lumbar and cervical spine problems were unrelated or "two separate issues." Dr. Johnson took appellant off work for three months because of his back and sent him for a course of physical therapy. At the first therapy session, appellant complained of neck pain and the lack of control of his left hand, and he mentioned that the muscles in that hand had wasted away and that he was unable to button his clothing or use his left arm.
On May 13, 2005, appellant was sent to the emergency room by Dr. Medlock because of complaints of pain in his neck and left arm, which appellant related to the September 2004 work-related accident. Appellant's physical examination revealed wasting to his left hand with diminished grip strength. The MRI taken of his cervical spine was described as "grossly abnormal." It revealed a facet subluxation secondary to degenerative disc disease at the C7-T1 area with a large disc herniation, resulting in spinal cord compression with evidence of cord edema. When the study was read, appellant had already been sent home, but he was contacted and told to return to the hospital for admittance. There, he again came under the care of Dr. Arthur Johnson.
On May 17, Dr. Johnson performed an anterior cervical discetomy and fusion at C6-T1 and C7-T1. After the surgery, appellant participated in rehabilitation where it was noted that the grip strength in his left hand was improving.
On December 28, 2005, Dr. Johnson authored a letter to appellant's attorney. He wrote:
I have reviewed the patient's emergency room report dated 09/10/04 and the patient did present with pain in the left shoulder and left arm and also pain going to the fingers as well. The occupational report prepared on 09/11/04 also confirmed the same history with pain in the left arm and numbness. These findings in the left arm are problems that can definitely be linked to cervical disc herniation, as the patient's pain appears to be radiating from the shoulder all the way down into the arms and fingers. If this was an isolated shoulder problem, usually the pain would be more...
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