Case ID: so2d_457/html/1131-01.html
Source: Caselaw Access Project
Author: {"author": "PER CURIAM.", "license": "Public Domain", "url": "https://static.case.law/"}
Date Created: 2024-08-24T03:29:51.129683

Joseph MASSARO, Appellant, v. COLUMBIAN APARTMENTS and Aetna Casualty & Surety, Appellees.
    No. AX-151.
    District Court of Appeal of Florida, First District.
    Oct. 16, 1984.
    Daniel B. Schuh, St. Petersburg, for appellant.
    Thomas T. Bopp of Fowler, White, Gillen, Boggs, Villareal & Banker, P.A., Tampa, for appellees.
   PER CURIAM.

We affirm the order appealed from below except that portion denying claimant payment for medical services provided by Dr. Aaron Schneider. When the employer/carrier (E/C) deauthorized the claimant’s first treating physician without authorizing alternative medical care, even when claimant requested such care, claimant was justified in seeking medical treatment from a physician of his own choosing. Gust K. Newberg Construction Co. v. Warren, 449 So.2d 934 (Fla. 1st DCA 1984); Sears, Roebuck and Co. v. Viera, 440 So.2d 49 (Fla. 1st DCA 1983). We find the E/C’s contention that it is entitled to ignore the request for alternative medical care of a claimant who is represented by counsel to be without merit. Accordingly, we modify the deputy commissioner’s order to require the E/C to pay the costs associated with Dr. Schneider’s orthopedic examination and evaluation of claimant. Otherwise, the order appealed from is AFFIRMED.

BOOTH, SMITH and THOMPSON, JJ., concur.