Thomas v. Jacksonville Elec. Authority, 88-155
| Decision Date | 16 December 1988 |
| Docket Number | No. 88-155,88-155 |
| Citation | 536 So.2d 310,13 Fla. L. Weekly 2748 |
| Parties | 13 Fla. L. Weekly 2748 Michael T. THOMAS, Appellant, v. JACKSONVILLE ELECTRIC AUTHORITY, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Jack W. Bettman, Jacksonville, for appellant.
Thomas E. Crowder, Jacksonville, for appellee.
The claimant in this workers' compensation appeal injured his lower back in the course and scope of employment in May 1979. Claimant reached maximum medical improvement (MMI) in 1984 and continued to have flare-ups after that time which required palliative care. Dr. Scharf provided that care and prescribed Darvocet-N 100 which is a centrally acting narcotic analgesic agent that Dr. Scharf prescribed for claimant both before and after the date of MMI. Claimant refilled the prescription a number of times between February 18, 1985 and April 15, 1987.
Claimant continued to suffer low back pain and was prescribed the drug Vicodin which he received on May 27, 1987. The employer refused to pay for this prescription and refused to pay for further treatment. A claim for benefits was filed July 7, 1987. The employer/carrier asserted that the statute of limitations, section 440.19(2)(a), Fla.Stat. (1979), 1 had run.
In his order, the deputy commissioner (DC) found the case of Domas v. Food Fair Stores, Inc., 5 F.C.R. 198 (1963) to be controlling. Although that case involved the drug Robaxin, which is a central nervous system depressant and sedative, the DC found that that drug, like the drug involved in the instant case, is used for palliative treatment of musculoskeletal problems and therefore the statute of limitations was not tolled. Relief was denied claimant for this reason and the claimant appealed.
City of Orlando v. Blackburn, 519 So.2d 1017 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987) was decided on December 9, 1987. The instant order is dated December 21, 1987. There is no indication, however, that the DC considered Blackburn which case requires reversal in the instant case.
The DC's denial of the claim in the instant case was based on an understanding that the palliative treatment provided claimant in the form of prescribed medication did not toll the statute of limitations, section 440.19, Fla.Stat. (1979), and thus the period within which the claim could be brought had run. In Blackburn we affirmed the DC's grant of payment for prescribed medication on the ground that ...
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Keller Kitchen Cabinets v. Holder, 88-3204
...the employer had made payments for "palliative" care during the two year time limitation period. E.g. Thomas v. Jacksonville Electric Authority, 536 So.2d 310 (Fla. 1st DCA 1988); City of Orlando v. Blackburn, 519 So.2d 1017 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987). These awards have been made on the basis of a......
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Hunsucker v. Rowntree
...drugs--prescribing drugs to relieve or cure a condition is more certainly medical treatment. See, e.g., Thomas v. Jacksonville Elec. Auth., 536 So.2d 310, 310-11 (Fla.Dist.Ct.App.1988) (claimant's refill of prescription medication for period of over two years tolled statute of limitations);......
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Rowntree v. Hunsucker
...medical treatment. See, e.g., Scarborough v. Aetna Life Ins. Co., 572 S.W.2d 282, 284 (Tex.1978); accord Thomas v. Jacksonville Electric Auth., 536 So.2d 310, 311-12 (Fla.App.1988); Freeman v. Mid-South Ins. Co., 197 Ga.App. 445, 398 S.E.2d 727, 728 (1990). While we do not question this tru......
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Ginsberg v. Chemmed Corp.
...begins to run, these cases do not address the narrow issue presented by claimant in this case. See Thomas v. Jacksonville Elec. Auth., 536 So.2d 310 (Fla. 1st DCA 1988) (holding that the prescribed medication in that case received on May 27, 1987, tolled the statute of limitations and there......