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Thornton v. Louisiana Plastic Industries12/15/2004
urgical intervention, noting no evidence of radicular type complaints or findings. He did not anticipate that a major surgical procedure such as the one suggested by Dr. Bailey would relieve all of Mr. Thornton's symptoms. Dr. Holladay recommended aggressive physical therapy, including a pool therapy-type rehabilitation program. He further opined that Mr. Thornton would benefit from pain management with some bilateral facet injections and possibly also from an epidural steroid injection. Finally, Dr. Holladay noted that a weight-loss program for Mr. Thornton would also benefit his lower back. At this time Dr. Holladay noted Mr. Thornton to weigh 277 pounds.
The first hearing before the WCJ took place on April 24, 2003. Following that hearing, the WCJ denied the surgery based on Dr. Holladay's recommendation for Mr. Thornton to undergo physical therapy, making the following statement to Mr. Thornton:
. . . Now, Mr. Thornton, I realize that you're hurting. I realized you want some immediate relief. Believe me, I do understand you. What I'm going to ask you to do is go to physical therapy. Try this pool therapy. Give it your best shot, and hopefully it will help you out. Even if it doesn't eliminate your pain, I'm of the opinion - - I'm not a doctor, but I'm of the opinion that at least it may strengthen parts of your body to make you better susceptible to surgery if it's still needed. But my grandmother used to say, "Nothing beats a failure but a try." So try this therapy. You've got two good doctors. As far as I know, they're good doctors. All three of them are. They're good doctors. Two of them are feeling like you need to try this before getting to the point of surgery. So give it your best shot, and I'm sure that if it doesn't work, [your attorney] will be right back in here if [LPI's counsel] doesn't cooperate." . . . So, don't feel like you've lost today. . . ..
After this ruling, Mr. Thornton completed five weeks of physical therapy. Thereafter, on September 4, 2003, Mr. Thornton's counsel filed a rule for surgery, again requesting that LPI be ordered to pay for the surgery recommended by Dr. Bailey. At a brief hearing conducted by the WCJ on October 2, 2003, the WCJ denied the rule pending Mr. Thornton's reexamination by Dr. Holladay, which took place on November 19, nearly one year from the day from Dr. Holladay's first examination of Mr. Thornton.
In his report of the November 19th examination, Dr. Holladay noted that, since the last office visit, Mr. Thornton had undergone out-patient physical therapy for five weeks that had yielded no relief. Mr. Thornton continued to complain of pain across the lower back into the left buttock and upper left thigh, but with no lower leg pain numbness or tingling. Dr. Holladay noted in the course of this examination that, at this time, Mr. Thornton weighed 260 pounds, some 17 pounds less than one year previously. Dr. Holladay noted pain in the back left hip and buttock area on the straight leg-raising test, but no lower leg pain. He further noted no evidence of atrophy in the lower extremities and that Mr. Thornton was able to get on and off of the examination table and in and out of a chair without difficulty or assistance and that he was able to walk without a limp. The diagnosis did not change from the previous examination, nor did Dr. Holladay's recommendation against surgery. Dr. Holladay emphasized that the diagnostic studies were essentially normal without physical findings of a radicular nature. He predicted the outcome of Mr. Thornton fully recovering from the contemplated surgical procedure to be very low, further opining an additional risk factor of this being a work-related injury lowering his chance of improvement f
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