South v. Heartland Employment & Training Admin., BT-255

• Decision Date: 10 June 1988
• Docket Number: No. BT-255,BT-255
• Citation: 13 Fla. L. Weekly 1388,527 So.2d 270
• Parties: 13 Fla. L. Weekly 1388 Eugene C. SOUTH, Appellant, v. HEARTLAND EMPLOYMENT & TRAINING ADMINISTRATION and Peninsular Fire Insurance Company, Appellees.
• Court: Florida District Court of Appeals

Page 270

527 So.2d 270

13 Fla. L. Weekly 1388

Eugene C. SOUTH, Appellant, v. HEARTLAND EMPLOYMENT & TRAINING ADMINISTRATION and Peninsular Fire Insurance Company, Appellees.

No. BT-255.

District Court of Appeal of Florida First District.

June 10, 1988.

Rehearing Denied July 12, 1988.

Bill McCabe, of Shepherd, McCabe & Cooley, Orlando; and Donna L. Schnorr, of Bruce L. Scheiner & Associates, Ft. Myers, for appellant.

Kathleen R. Hudson, St. Petersburg, for appellees.

WIGGINTON, Judge.

The issue before this Court is whether the deputy commissioner erred in denying a claim for compensation benefits on the basis that the claimant was not in need of nor entitled to further psychiatric treatment, either palliative or remedial, from Dr. Than after March 7, 1986, as a result of his industrial accident of March 23, 1983. In his order, the deputy specifically rejected the evidence from claimant and from Dr. Than, and all other evidence contrary to the testimony of examining psychiatrists Doctors Keown and Buchholz. We reverse.

Claimant was injured on March 23, 1983, when, while loading railroad ties, he lost his balance and dropped an 800-pound railroad truss that pinned him on the left side of his head, neck, left shoulder, and left arm. Following approximately two years of treatment and physical therapy, during which the physicians could find little organic reason for claimant's continuing pain and inability to use his left arm, an order was entered on March 7, 1985, approving a lump-sum settlement petition discharging the employer/carrier's liability for future payments of benefits other than medical expenses. In the petition, the parties agreed that claimant sustained some psychological injuries, the extent of which was disputed, and that he would receive palliative care from Dr. Than for one year from entry of the order approving the settlement. The petition for settlement reflected that claimant reached MMI psychiatrically on August 24, 1984, and that total MMI was reached on August 28, 1984.

Claimant first began treatment with Dr. Than on May 1, 1984. He was also seen at the employer/carrier's behest by Dr. Buchholz, a psychiatrist, on August 28, 1984, and again on May 30, 1986. A third psychiatrist, Dr. Keown, examined claimant on January 7, 1985. The evidence before the deputy consisted of the depositions of Doctors Than, Buchholz, and Keown. Consequently, this Court's vantage point is not inferior to that of the deputy in interpreting the medical evidence. McCabe v. Bechtel Power Corp., 510 So.2d 1056 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987).

It was revealed in the three depositions of Dr. Than that claimant had been improving functionally, his alcohol consumption--which had sharply increased shortly after the accident--ceased, and his overall personal hygiene, neglected after the accident, had significantly improved. It was Dr. Than's opinion that he would need to see claimant approximately three times a month for the next one and one-half to two years during which period he believed he could return claimant to a point where he could function at a job free of conflicts. Thereafter, Dr. Than indicated claimant would need to be seen about every four to six weeks, if needed, with some medication. Dr. Than observed that without further treatment, he did not know if claima...