Court Opinion

ID: 9526731
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 03:22:51.535553+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:21:15.936250
License: Public Domain

PHILLIP T. WHITEAKER, Judge, concurring. I agree with the majority that Ms. O’Guinn is entitled to a change-of-physician order under these circumstances based on our previous interpretation of section 11-9-514 in Wal-Mart Associates, Inc. v. Keys, 2012 Ark. App. 559, 423 S.W.3d 683. I write separately solely to express my belief that the legislature should consider revising the statute to clearly address the circumstances under which a claimant who, through no fault of her own, is left without a physician after having previously invoked her statutory entitlement to a one-time change of physician. I note that the change-of-physician statute as currently written does not specifically address the situation in which a physician dies during the treatment of a patient; nor does it clearly address the possibility that a physician may retire, move, or have his or her privileges or license to practice medicine revoked or suspended during the physician’s treatment of the claimant. I believe that the determination of these issues is better left to legislative enactment, than judicial interpretation.