Suzor v. Int'l Paper Co.
| Decision Date | 27 September 2017 |
| Docket Number | WCC No. 2017-3988 |
| Citation | 2017 MTWCC 17 |
| Parties | CHARLOTTE SUZOR Petitioner v. INTERNATIONAL PAPER CO. Respondent/Insurer. |
| Court | Montana Workers Compensation Court |
Summary: Petitioner alleges that the injuries to her knees, for which Respondent previously accepted liability, caused one of her knees to give way while she was inside her home, which, in turn, caused her to fall and break her right wrist. She seeks medical benefits for her broken wrist. Respondent denied liability for her broken wrist, relying on claimant's medical record which states she fell because she slipped on ice.
Held: Respondent is not liable for claimant's right-wrist fracture because Petitioner failed to prove that her fall occurred as a result of her knee instability. Petitioner's testimony did not convince this Court that her medical record was incorrect.
¶ 1 The trial in this matter was held on September 12, 2017, in Missoula. Petitioner Charlotte Suzor was present and represented by Rex Palmer. Leo Ward represented Respondent International Paper Co. (International Paper).
¶ 2 Exhibits: This Court admitted Exhibits 12 through 15, 17, and 22 through 25 without objection. This Court overruled Liberty's disclosure and exchange objections to Exhibits 1 through 11 and 16 and admitted them. Suzor withdrew Exhibits 19, 20, and 21. There is no Exhibit 18 because Suzor did not offer any exhibit for impeachment or rebuttal.
¶ 3 Witnesses and Depositions: Charlotte Suzor and Joan Bond-Deschamps, PA-C, were sworn and testified at trial.
¶ 4 Issues Presented: The following issue is before this Court:
Is International Paper liable for medical benefits for Suzor's January 2016 right-wrist injury?
¶ 5 This Court finds the following facts based on a preponderance of the evidence.
¶ 6 Suzor suffered an industrial accident on April 1, 1982, which resulted in injuries to her knees.
¶ 7 International Paper accepted liability for her claim.
¶ 8 As a result of her 1982 injuries, Suzor has suffered instability in her knees resulting in falls, which she reported to her healthcare providers.
¶ 9 In 2009, as a result of one of these falls, Suzor broke her hip. Michael W. Woods, MD, at Missoula Bone & Joint explained:
This patient had a fall that caused this injury in late February/early March. The fall was due to a giving way episode of her left knee. The left knee is chronically unstable because she had a previous patellectomy from a previous work related injury. But for this unstable left knee, which caused her to fall, she would not have had this right hip injury. Therefore in my opinion there is a work-related causation through that line of reasoning.
International Paper accepted liability for her hip replacement surgery.
¶ 10 In January 2016, Suzor fell and broke her right wrist.
¶ 11 On February 1, 2016, Suzor saw a nurse and Joan Bond-Deschamps, PA-C, at Missoula Bone & Joint. Bond-Deschamps has known Suzor since 2004, and knew that Suzor has a long history of unstable knees due to her patellectomy. The history section of Bond-Deschamps' report states:
Charlotte is a pleasant . . . female who is well known to our clinic after her previous left knee arthroscopy and right total hip arthroplasty done by Dr. Woods and myself. The patient is self-referred to the Urgent Care Clinic today for an injury she sustained to her right wrist. The patient states she fell 1 week ago Saturday after slipping on some ice. She fell on her outstretched hand. She states she actually hit both hands but is having primarily pain and swelling in the right wrist. She reports a "lump" that developed shortly thereafter. The patient denies numbness or tingling andreports pain with extreme wrist extension, heavy gripping, and grasping things. The patient denies other active complaints or concerns.1
Bond-Deschamps' handwritten notes from that day just state that Suzor fell on an outstretched hand. Bond-Deschamps placed a splint on Suzor.
¶ 12 Thereafter, Suzor treated with Lou Westenfelder, PA-C, at Missoula Bone & Joint, who placed her in a cast. His records are detailed and concise. However, none of his medical records say anything about the cause of Suzor's fall.
¶ 13 International Paper denied liability for Suzor's wrist injury. Suzor received bills from Missoula Bone & Joint and Hands in Motion Occupational Therapy in the spring and summer of 2016, and knew that International Paper had denied liability for her wrist injury. She forwarded the bills to her attorney, and indicated she thought her wrist injury should be covered by International Paper.
¶ 14 On September 27, 2016, Suzor's attorney, who has been her attorney at all times relevant to this case, wrote a demand letter to the attorney who represented International Paper in Suzor's bad-faith case.2 In relevant part, the letter states:
As you are well aware, Ms. Suzor has chronically unstable knees as the direct result of her 1982 injury at work. On January 30, 2016, her knee gave away and she fell on ice fracturing her right wrist.3
Suzor's attorney asked that International Paper pay medical benefits for her broken wrist and honor his Lockhart lien.4
¶ 15 On January 10, 2017, Bond-Deschamps received a message stating that Suzor had called and indicated her February 1, 2016, medical record was incorrect; Suzor stated she had actually fallen inside her home, and not on ice. Bond-Deschamps spoke to Westenfelder, who did not recall anything about the cause of Suzor's fall. Bond-Deschamps also spoke to Dr. Woods, who told her to make a chart note of what Suzor had said. Thus, Bond-Deschamps wrote a chart note stating:
Charlotte called in today with some new information regarding her wrist injury she sustained in January of 2016. The patient states that she actually had a slip and fall inside her home, not on ice. Charlotte sustained a scaphoid fracture, which was treated initially by myself through our Urgent Care Clinic and the patient was referred on for definitive treatment with Lou Westenfelder, P.A.5
¶ 16 At trial, Suzor testified that she did not slip and fall on ice. She testified her knee gave way and she fell in the hallway inside her home. She denied ever telling anyone at Missoula Bone & Joint that she slipped and fell on ice.
¶ 17 Bond-Deschamps has no independent recollection of Suzor's February 1, 2016, appointment, other than that Suzor had an unusual hematoma on her wrist. Bond-Deschamps does not remember whether she took Suzor's history, or whether her nurse took Suzor's history and relayed it to her. Due to the passage of time and employee turnover, Bond-Deschamps does not remember who her nurse was that day. Bond-Deschamps thinks a miscommunication occurred either between herself and Suzor, or between herself and her nurse. However, the only basis she has for thinking a mistake was made or a miscommunication occurred is that she believes Suzor's assertion that she never said she slipped and fell on ice.
¶ 18 International Paper argues that the evidence shows Suzor did not fall because her knee gave way; instead, it argues that she fell because she slipped on ice. Suzor maintains that her February 1, 2016, medical record incorrectly noted the cause and location of her fall; she maintains that her knee gave way and she fell inside the hallway of her home. For two reasons, Suzor's testimony fails to prove it is more likely than not that her fall occurred because her knee gave way.
¶ 19 First, while this Court knows that medical providers occasionally make mistakes in their records, Suzor did not offer sufficient credible evidence to persuade this Court that Bond-Deschamps made a mistake regarding the cause or location of Suzor's fall in the medical record from February 1, 2016, or that a miscommunication occurred. Bond-Deschamps understands the importance of accurate records. Bond-Deschamps' record from February 1, 2016, is detailed and concise. Suzor admitted every other statement in the history portion of her medical record is correct. At the time, Bond-Deschamps had known Suzor for approximately 12 years and knew of Suzor's unstable knees and her resulting falls. Suzor did not offer details such as whether she gave her history to Bond-Deschamps or to Bond-Deschamps' nurse, or offer other testimony to assist this Court indetermining whether Bond-Deschamps or her nurse made a mistake, or whether there was a miscommunication. While Bond-Deschamps was a credible witness, she did not remember what was said or what occurred during Suzor's appointment, and did not have...
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