Court Opinion

ID: 9693091
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-25 16:22:03.483882+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:02:41.751047
License: Public Domain

Justice NEWMAN,
(dissenting).
I must respectfully dissent because I do not believe that diagnostic testing, such as the triphasic bone scan and MRI sought by Indiana Hospital (Employer) in the instant matter, is part of the term “physical examination” pursuant to Section 314(a) of the Workers’ Compensation Act,1 which provides in relevant part as follows:
At any time after an injury the employe, if so requested by his employer, must submit himself at some reasonable time and place for a physical examination or expert interview by an appropriate health care provider or other expert, who shall be selected and paid for by the employer....
77 P.S. § 651(a) (emphasis added). The Workers’ Compensation Act does not define “examination” or “physical examination.”
*51Section 1903(a) of the Statutory Construction Act provides that “[w]ords and phrases shall be construed according to rules of grammar and according to their common and approved usage; but technical words and phrases and such others as have acquired a peculiar and appropriate meaning or are defined in this part, shall be construed according to such peculiar and appropriate meaning or definition.” 1 Pa.C.S. § 1903(a). The majority notes the “medical” definition of “physical examination” as an “[e]xamination of the body by auscultation, palpation, percussion, inspection, and olfaction[,]” but rejects this definition in the workers’ compensation context, apparently concluding that medical definitions do not have legal force. See Majority Opinion, op. at 44^5, 842 A.2d at 353 (quoting Taber’s Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary at 1584 (19th ed.2001)). I cannot agree.
The definition of “examination” is telling. An “examination” is commonly defined as “[a]ny investigation or inspection made for the purpose of diagnosis; usually qualified by the method used.” Steadman’s Medical Dictionary at 607 (26th ed.1995). See also Taber’s Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary at 718-719 (“[t]he act or process of inspecting the body and its systems to determine the presence or absence of disease. Terms employed indicate type of examination ... ”). Section 1903(b) of the Statutory Construction Act provides that “[gjeneral words shall be construed to take their meanings and be restricted by preceding particular words.” 1 Pa.C.S. § 1903(b) (emphasis added). Thus, use of the term “physical” in front of the word “examination” in Section 314(a) of the Workers’ Compensation Act is meant to limit the scope of the examination.
While not directly on point, in two recent cases, we have noted a distinction between various types of examinations, and specifically that diagnostic testing is not part of a physical examination. See Davis v. Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board (Swarthmore Borough, 561 Pa.462, 751 A.2d 168, 173 (Pa.2000)) (“Dr. Kadish testified that he had not conducted a physical examination, neurological examination, or orthopedic examination of Davis. Dr. Kadish also stated that he had not requested any diagnostic studies to determine whether *52there was any pathological condition responsible for the right hand tremors”) (emphasis added). See also Montgomery v. Bazaz-Sehgal, 568 Pa. 574, 798 A.2d 742, 745 (Pa.2002) (“Sehgal took a history, performed a complete physical examination and ordered tests”) (emphasis added), which indicates that the performance of tests is outside the scope of a “complete physical examination.”
However, most compelling in my judgment is the fact that, in 1996, Section 314(a) of the Workers’ Compensation Act was amended; prior to 1996 the provision provided in relevant part that:
At any time after an injury the employe, if so requested by his employer, must submit himself for an examination, at some reasonable time and place, to a physician or physicians legally authorized to practice under the laws of such place, who shall be selected and paid by the employer....
77 P.S. 651(a) (West 1995) (subsequently amended). Thus, where the statute currently reads “physical examination,” it used to read simply “examination.” In order to give the amendment force, without explicit legislative history, we must presume that the legislature intended to limit the scope of an examination sought by the Employer pursuant to Section 314(a).
The majority contends that such a rigid clinical definition will thwart the purpose of a Section 314 “examination,” which the majority notes is a “method of fact-finding to determine the extent of a claimants disability for the purposes of determining the right to benefits.” Majority Opinion, op. at 45, 842 A.2d at 454 (quoting Maranc v. Workmen’s Compensation Appeal Board (Bienenfeld), 156 Pa.Cmwlth. 572, 628 A.2d 522, 524 (Pa.1993)). However, Marañe was decided prior to the 1996 amendments to Section 314(a). The majority also avers that we are not bound by medical definitions of medical terms, pointing to the fact that “disability” is defined for workers’ compensation purposes as “loss of earning power,” which imports both economic and physical findings. See Unora v. Glen Alden Coal. Co., 377 Pa. 7, 104 A.2d 104, 107 (Pa.1954).
*53Steadman’s defines “disability” as “any restriction of lack of ability to perform an activity in a manner or within the range considered normal for a human being. The term disability reflects the consequences of impairment in terms of functional performance and activity by the individual----” Steadman’s Medical Dictionary at 490. Understanding disability in terms of loss of earning power is entirely consistent with a consequence of impairment of functional performance. This alleged deviation from a purely medical definition of a term does not justify the majority’s decision in the present matter to ignore completely the settled understanding of a physical examination, to be conducted by a medical professional, in the unquestionably well-intended pursuit of the spirit of the Workers’ Compensation Act.
While I cannot quarrel with the desire of the majority to ascertain more comprehensively the true nature of the injuries suffered by the claimant, and I concede that limiting a Section 314(a) examination to the “laying on of hands” will hinder diagnosis in some cases, our function is not to say what the law should be, but rather to interpret what the law is. As the legislature has acted within the last decade to limit the scope of Section 314(a) by adding the word “physical” to describe the acceptable examination, I cannot sign on to an opinion that would allow an examination that is not fairly characterized as a “physical examination.” See 1 Pa.C.S. § 1921 (“When the words of a statute are clear and free from all ambiguity, the letter of it is not to be disregarded under the pretext of pursuing its spirit”).

. Act of June 2, 1915, P.L. 736, as amended, 77 P.S. § 651(a).