CLAIM NO. E309141
Before the Arkansas Workers’ Compensation Commission
OPINION FILED AUGUST 26, 1996
Upon review before the FULL COMMISSION in Little Rock, Pulaski County, Arkansas.
Claimant represented by HENRY H. BOYCE, Attorney at Law, Newport, Arkansas.
Respondent represented by ROBERT H. CRANK, Attorney at Law, Walnut Ridge, Arkansas.
Decision of Administrative Law Judge: Reversed in part and vacated in part.
[1] OPINION AND ORDER
[2] An Administrative Law Judge entered an opinion and order in the above-captioned case on August 21, 1995, finding that while claimant had sustained a compensable injury on May 3, 1993, his continued physical problems beyond June 22, 1993, were not attributable to said injury and were thus noncompensable. The Administrative Law Judge further found that an MRI examination recommended by Dr. A. Roy Tyrer was not reasonable and necessary medical treatment. As part of the finding of compensability, the Administrative Law Judge awarded claimant “reasonably necessary medical and related expenses and benefits for any compensable period of temporary total disability.”
[8] Claimant testified that he did attempt to climb a ladder on June 22, 1993, and that he did have to abandon the effort due to his back. However, the object of his intended labor was not respondent’s place of business, but an individual’s home. Claimant also explained that he had procured a number of such general household repair jobs, but had been forced to turn essentially all of them over to his stepson and others due to his back problems. Claimant has contacted his employer about returning to work, but had not been allowed to return as of the hearing. [9] With regard to his present condition, claimant testified as follows:Mr. Lee was first seen in this office on 5-4-94 complaining of pain in the low and mid back. Patient stated this was caused when lifting furniture at Hutcherson Furniture. On 6-22-93, patient stated that he was painting at the same place of business and stepped off ladder reinjuring the lower back.
[10] Claimant went on to state that he cannot sit for extended periods of time and that he does have occasional pain down the left leg. [11] Dr. A. Roy Tyrer performed an independent medical exam upon the Commission’s request on May 23, 1994. In a letter dated June 13, 1994, Dr. Tyrer reported that:Some days I can get up and I can’t hardly get up out of the bed. My back still hurts me. I’m real sore. I — when I bend, stoop, raise up real fast or something, my back hurts me. And some of the mornings I’ve got to roll out of bed instead of getting out of bed. My back gets real stiff and it still bothers me.
[12] The Administrative Law Judge discerned from the record that claimant’s back had “improved to the point that he re-entered the work force in June, 1993, where he was re-injured during other employment.” Thus, the Administrative Law Judge appears to have essentially considered the June 22, 1993, episode to be a noncompensable new injury. Our review of the record does not lead us to the same conclusion. [13] We find claimant’s testimony to be credible, and note that he explicitly stated that his back symptoms did not resolve between the time of his injury on May 3, 1993, and the ladder-climbing incident on June 23, 1993. Nor does the medical evidence indicate that claimant’s back problems had resolved by the latter date. Indeed, the first mention of claimant being “almost symptom free” in Dr. Thompson’s records does not occur until July 1, 1993. By July 10, claimant had begun to regress. [14] As for the ladder episode itself, claimant presented the following exchange of testimony:I feel that lumbar disc herniation is unlikely, but in view of his lingering persistent symptoms, I think an MRI of the lumbar spine would (sic) advisable, since the patient has had no diagnostic studies of this nature.
Q. So, this matter in June 22nd, 1993, would have been when you stepped off the ladder at Hillbilly’s?
A. Yes, that’s when I got down and told them I couldn’t do it no more, because I got to hurting so bad I couldn’t handle it.
Q. Did you injure your back then?
[15] (The record indicates that Hillbilly is an individual’s nickname, not a business establishment.) [16] Based on the medical evidence and claimant’s credible testimony concerning his ongoing symptoms and the episode on June 22, 1993, we find that his back injury had not resolved by that date, and that the problems he experienced at that time as a result of trying to climb a ladder were not a new injury but were the “natural and probable results” of the May 3, 1993 injury, and were thus a recurrence thereof. Accordingly, claimants’s injury-related difficulties after June 22, 1993, are compensable. SeeBearden Lumber Co. v. Bond, 7 Ark. App. 65, 644 S.W.2d 321A. No, I just stood up there and I started wobbling up there and my back started hurting, and that’s when I got down. I told them I couldn’t — I couldn’t stay on that ladder. And he’ll testify to that himself.
(1983). [17] We further find that an MRI scan would be reasonable and necessary treatment for claimant’s compensable injury, based upon Dr. Tyrer’s June 13, 1994, recommendation of the same. We also note that Dr. Thompson, as early as July 12, 1993, recommended that claimant be sent to a spinal injury specialist. [18] Finally, it is clear from the record that claimant reserved the issue of temporary total disability benefits for later resolution. In order to assure the preservation of claimant’s rights, we accordingly vacate any findings of the Administrative Law Judge relating to this issue. [19] Based upon our de novo review of the entire record, and for the reasons discussed hereinabove, we specifically find that claimant has proven, by a preponderance of the evidence, that his ongoing back problems subsequent to June 22, 1993, are compensable, and that the proposed MRI scan in reasonably necessary medical treatment for his compensable injury. We further find that any reference to temporary total disability benefits should be vacated from the Administrative Law Judge’s opinion. Said opinion should therefore be, and hereby is, reversed in part and vacated and set aside in part. [20] All accrued benefits shall be paid in a lump sum without discount and with interest thereon at the lawful rate from the date of the Administrative Law Judge’s decision in accordance with Ark. Code Ann. § 11-9-809 (Repl. 1996). [21] For prevailing on this appeal before the Full Commission, claimant’s attorney is hereby awarded an additional attorney’s fee in the amount of $250.00 as provided by Ark. Code Ann. § 11-9-715 (b) (Repl. 1996). [22] IT IS SO ORDERED.
JAMES W. DANIEL, Chairman PAT WEST HUMPHREY, Commissioner
[23] Commissioner Holcomb dissents.