Opinion ID: 762156
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Lauer's medical and work history

Text: 2 Robert Lauer is 47 years old and has had a history of back pain dating to a 1983 work injury. In September 1991, Lauer worked at a car wash as an assistant manager. He quit when he re-injured his back while trying to move a safe. 3 An MRI exam in October 1991 revealed that Lauer had a herniated disk. Another exam in December 1991 found that Lauer suffered from an acute left L5 radiculopathy. On December 30, Lauer underwent spinal surgery. Immediately after the surgery, Lauer reported relief from pain, but the pain returned soon after. Examinations in early and mid-January suggested stenosis (narrowing) of the spinal canal, and epidural lipomatosis with displacement but not compression of the dural sac and with two areas of calcification at the level of T5 and T6. 4 At a physical therapy session in February 1992, the therapist noted that Lauer moved around guardedly, and that Lauer reported pain in his buttocks and left leg. At another session later that month, the therapist noted that Lauer was making poor progress and noted that Lauer was having spasms and complaining of increased pain. In May 1992, for reasons unrelated to his back pain, Lauer had major abdominal surgery. Doctors performed an exploratory laparotomy, removed Lauer's appendix, removed a bowel obstruction, and inserted a catheter. After recovering from the surgery, in August 1992 Lauer vacationed in Mexico, and on returning told his physician that while in Mexico he felt better than he had in years. 5 In early September 1992, therapists gave Lauer a work capacity evaluation. Despite back spasms, Lauer was able to complete all tests, though the spasms limited his ability to perform weighted tests. The therapists found Lauer was capable of light work. After the evaluation, Lauer reported increased pain. During September and October, Lauer received three lumbar epidural steroid injections to try to control the pain, with limited success. Dr. Magee, who administered the tests, found that Lauer still remained quite symptomatic and dysfunctional at the end of September, noting that Lauer had difficulty walking due to pain on his left side that radiated down his left leg. 6 In May and June 1993, Lauer participated in a rehabilitation program, and in July 1993, Lauer began a full-time job--his first since 1991--as a security guard. The job required fourteen miles of walking a day. The following month, Lauer transferred to a less demanding security job that allowed him to sit 70% of the time. He was still working in that job at the time of his administrative hearing in August 1994.