Fort James Operating Co. v. Crump12/17/2004
hat Crump complained of "low back pain that radiates to her left leg posteriorly" and that "the pain started yesterday." After being made aware of the alleged November 5, 1998, accident and injury, Dr. Allen opined as follows:
"Q: Doesn't that sound like, in March, she had a temporary muscle strain, and then in November, she herniated the disc in her lower back?
"A: That would be one possibility, yes.
"Q: That's the most probable thing, isn't it?
"A: That's one possibility. Another possibility, of course, would be that she actually suffered disruption of the disc on March 25th, '98, which was symptomatic for a period of several months, with exacerbations of back pain from time to time. And, then a more symptomatic fragmentation herniation of the disc on or about November 5th, 1998, in the same disc that had been weakened from the earlier accident of March 25, '98. That would be an equally plausible explanation. Sitting here three years later, if all those facts are correct, I would not have a way to document which of those particular scenarios was, in fact, the truth.
"Q: So, it's a fifty-fifty shot? One's not more likely than the other?
"A: I would say one is not more likely than the other.
"....
"When a disc is injured, it can pardon, it can form some what's called fibrosis, which means scarring, and certainly that would be a plausible explanation of why she was able to keep going for several months before this disc fragmented. And, in fact, when Doctor Bobo took a direct-eye view of the disc fragments that he removed, he found a firm fibrous herniated disc. So, it looks to me, at least from my understanding of disc pathology, that this was a scarred disc. So, it would seem to me that this fibrous of the disc would show an earlier injury and a subsequent fragmentation.
"But, you, know, I don't have a way to prove that beyond a shadow of a doubt. But, based upon a reasonable degree of medical certainty, I would say that it's more likely than not that this lady had suffered significant disc injury some time before the surgical date, probably months before, that led to fibrosis of the disc. And, then a subsequent multiple fragmentation. There may not have been a single date of fragmentation. She could have been spewing little fragments off of this disc over a several month period. And, that may well explain why she had bouts of back pain throughout this time.
"....
"So, my thought would be that, in all likelihood, she did have disc injury sufficient to cause scarring of the disc on or about 3-25-98. And, then, more than likely, several episodes of disc fragmentation, and then at some point in time, perhaps on November the 5th, '98, and perhaps at another time, she suffered a large fragment that actually compressed the left L5 nerve root. But, there were multiple fragments found at surgery. And, I think there's no disputing that fact, because that was a hands-on view of the surgeon. But, that fragmentation may have occurred as one event or may have occurred as a series of events. There's no way for me or the surgeon to know when that occurred.
"....
"Q: So, under the simple fact that she had a fibrous herniated disc, that doesn't eliminate the possibility that she herniated the disc on November the 5th, instead of March 25th?
"A: It doesn't eliminate the possibility. I believe that it's more likely that the actual injury to the disc that precipitated the fibrosis occurred before November. Whether or not the large fragment occurred in November, I don't know. Perhaps it did. I just don't have any way of knowing.
"
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Alabama Personal Injury Attorneys
Personal Injury Lawyers
|