Opinion ID: 1799787
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: facts

Text: ¶ 5. All parties involved agree that Jessie Spann was a healthy, relatively new employee of Wal-Mart, participating in a training program under the supervision of his supervisor, Mark L. Tate. Tate provided the following testimony when asked whether Spann was a good employee: A. I recruited him. He didn't come to me for a job. I went to him and recruited him and also seeked [sic] his employers' statements about him and what type of worker he was. I observed him. I saw he was a hard worker and with Wal-Mart that's more or less what we are told to do. Go out and if they don't know the job we can teach them the job. We can train them. ¶ 6. All parties also agree, that on September 7, 1990, while in the course and scope of employment, a then healthy Jessie Spann, who was carrying a tire and tire mount, slipped and fell on a wet, slippery floor which had recently been cleaned with both water and degreasers and injured his back. Wal-Mart admitted the injury and sent Spann to see Dr. David Gandy. Spann felt that Dr. Gandy was not helping his recovery, and on his own went to see Dr. John Frenz in Brandon, Mississippi, who performed a myelogram, a CT scan and spinal x-rays while Spann was hospitalized. Dr. Frenz is certified by the American Board of Neurologic and Orthopedic Surgeons, and additionally board certified by the American Board of Clinical Neurosurgery and by the American Board of Spinal Surgery. ¶ 7. The radiologist who initially read the x-rays found an abnormality or bulging of the L 4-5 spinal disc, which was confirmed by Dr. Frenz. Dr. Frenz recommended that due to the abnormality at the L 4-5 spinal disc, that he [Spann] have a partial removal of that disc by a procedure called automated percutaneous nucleotome disectomy, which more simply put is something similar to orthoscopic surgery of the knee [with] which many people are familiar. Dr. Frenz testified that he believed, based on a reasonable medical certainty, that Spann could be relieved, at least in part, of his continuing symptoms and could reasonably be expected to have an improvement in his functional capacity if the procedure was completed. ¶ 8. Basing his opinion on Spann's history, examination, treatment and the diagnostic tests performed on him, Dr. Frenz opined that there was a direct causal relationship between the accident which occurred on September 7, 1990 and the set of complaints, symptoms and findings for which he treated him. ¶ 9. Upon the referral of Dr. Frenz, Spann asked Dr. Elmer Nix, an orthopedic surgeon, for a second opinion. Dr. Nix reported a very minimal bulge of the L-4 disc that he felt was within normal limits. He further concluded that Spann appeared to be magnifying his symptoms during the course of the examination and opined that Spann should recover from his lower back strain in six to eight weeks. However, during the hearing before the Commission, Dr. Nix stated on cross-examination that his answers were uncertain because he had not seen Spann very often. The record shows that Dr. Nix saw and examined Spann on only one occasion. Dr. Nix also admitted on cross-examination that he had not reviewed Spann's MRI. ¶ 10. Spann also saw Dr. Patrick Barrett, another orthopedic surgeon, on a limited basis, upon the recommendation of his first attorney. [1] Dr. Barrett diagnosed probable internal disc derangement 4-5, but stated that his opinion would be that it would be less than a 50-50 chance that this [Dr. Frenz's suggested disectomy] would improve Spann's situation enough to go back to heavy work. Both Drs. Frenz and Barrett found that Spann could no longer perform the heavy work he had been doing prior to the injury. ¶ 11. After Spann returned to work, he was placed on light duty. Spann's supervisor testified that although Spann had been deliberately placed on light duty, he could not perform the work, and that on many occasions he could not work a full day because of the pain. The supervisor said that based on his observation Spann's pain prevented him from stooping or bending, and he could only stand for short periods of time.