Court Opinion

ID: 9718156
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 07:17:54.454644+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:23:57.656433
License: Public Domain

JOHN Mauzy Pittman, Judge. The appellant in this workers’ compensation case was employed by appellee as a plumber. Appellant’s work was very strenuous, including such activities as digging trenches, carrying 200-pound loads, and jumping into trenches while carrying 100-pound loads on his shoulder. He sustained a compensable ruptured disc in November 1992 when he fell from a ladder while attempting to shut off a sprinkler valve. He was treated surgically for a ruptured disc, improved dramatically, and returned to work six weeks later. In July and August of 1993, approximately four months after he returned to work, appellant began experiencing back symptoms while carrying and laying pipe. The new symptoms differed from his original symptoms in that they were not localized on the right side of the body, but instead affected both sides. Appellant saw several physicians for a gradually increasing number of complaints, but all of the physicians save one concluded that he was not a candidate for additional surgery. The one physician who did recommend additional surgery, Dr. Ricca, ultimately performed additional surgery on appellant, performing a fusion at L4-5 and removing a recurrent herniated disc at that level. However, Dr. Ricca characterized his decision to do so as reluctant, and testified that the attempt to improve appellant’s condition by additional surgery was “heroic” and ultimately ineffective. Appellant sought medical benefits for the repeat surgery and permanent total disability benefits. The Commission found that appellant’s worsened condition following his return to work resulted from a new injury sustained while carrying 100-to-200-pound pipe, that the additional surgery was not reasonably necessary for treatment of appellant’s compensable injury, and that appellant was not permanently and totally disabled. From that decision, comes this appeal. For reversal, appellant contends that the Commission erred in finding that appellant sustained a new injury after July of 1993, in finding that the additional surgery was not reasonable and necessary medical treatment for his compensable injury, and in finding that appellant was not permanently and totally disabled. We affirm.  In determining the sufficiency of the evidence to support the findings of the Workers’ Compensation Commission, we view the evidence and all reasonable inferences deducible therefrom in the light most favorable to the Commission’s findings, and we will affirm if those findings are supported by substantial evidence. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. VanWagner, 63 Ark. App. 235, 977 S.W.2d 487 (1998). Substantial evidence is such relevant evidence as a reasonable mind might accept as adequate to support a conclusion. Nelson v. Timberline International, Inc., 57 Ark. App. 34, 942 S.W.2d 260 (1997). The question is not whether the evidence would have supported findings contrary to the ones made by the Commission; there may be substantial evidence to support the Commission’s decision even though we might have reached a different conclusion if we sat as the trier of fact or heard the case de novo. Stephens Truck Lines v. Millican, 58 Ark. App. 275, 950 S.W.2d 472 (1997). The determination of the credibility and weight to be given a witness’s testimony is within the sole province of the Commission. Min-Ark Pallet Co. v. Lindsey, 58 Ark. App. 309, 950 S.W.2d 468 (1997). The Commission is not required to believe the testimony of the claimant or any other witness, but may accept and translate into findings of fact only those portions of the testimony it deems worthy of belief. American Greetings Corp. v. Garey, 61 Ark. App. 18, 963 S.W.2d 613 (1998).  Appellant first contends that the Commission erred in finding that he sustained a new back injury or aggravation after his initial surgery. In so finding, the Commission noted in its opinion that appellant encountered only minimal problems following his initial surgery and was able to return to work after only six weeks. The Commission also noted that, after performing strenuous physical labor in August 1993, appellant experienced pain even greater than the pain he had prior to surgery, and that this new pain was not limited to one leg, as had been the case following his original injury, but was felt in both legs. The evidence relied upon by the Commission is supported by the record, and on this record we cannot say that reasonable persons could not conclude that appellant sustained a new injury after July of 1993.  Appellant next contends that the Commission erred in finding that the additional surgery was not reasonable and necessary medical treatment for his compensable injuries. We do not agree. As the Commission noted, with the exception of Dr. Ricca, every physician who saw appellant was of the opinion that additional surgery was not indicated. Even Dr. Ricca characterized his decision to perform additional surgery as a reluctant one made after appellant implored him to do so. Dr. Ricca also testified that the attempt to improve appellant’s condition by additional surgery was “heroic” and ultimately ineffective, and stated that, in retrospect, the spinal fusion was not necessary because appellant did not have a condition that it would benefit. The Commission also noted that appellant stated that he did not benefit from the additional surgery. Postsurgical improvement is a proper consideration in determining whether the surgery was reasonable and necessary, see Linn Care Center v. Cannon, 74 Or. App. 707, 704 P.2d 539 (1985), and on this record, where even the surgeon who performed the procedure believed that it would not be effective and where no postsurgical improvement took place, the Commission did not err in finding that the additional surgery was not reasonably necessary for treatment of appellant’s compensable injuries.  Finally, appellant contends that the Commission erred in finding that he was not permanently and totally disabled. We do not agree. In reaching its decision on this issue, the Commission considered evidence that appellant’s first compensable injury and surgery resulted only in a ten-percent physical impairment rating; that appellant was only thirty-seven years old and was able to study for and obtain a plumbing license; and that, throughout the medical records, appellant was characterized as a malingerer with grossly exaggerated pain complaints, a characterization borne out by evidence that appellant was physically capable of climbing a ladder to the roof of his house to repair a satellite dish, and of initiating a fight in which he hit and kicked another man. We hold that the Commission did not err in finding that appellant was not permanently and totally disabled. Affirmed. Robbins, C.J., and Jennings, Bird, and Rogers, JJ., agree. Hart, J., dissents.