 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Welcome v. Martin De Porres Nursing Home9/29/2004
trusion or herniation at the L5-S1 disc level.
Dr. Duhon testified that Welcome told him that her back started hurting in May or June 2002, and that it progressively worsened thereafter. He stated that she listed the cause of her pain as being related to her repetitive duties of lifting, pulling, and pushing on patients; however, he stated that she was unable to identify a particular incident as initiating her lower back pain. Dr. Duhon testified that Welcome did indicate one instance when her back started hurting while she was driving, that she was unable to drive afterwards, and that this incident led to her termination.
Dr. Khan testified that Welcome visited the emergency room at Moss Regional on September 13, 2002, at which time she complained of experiencing right-sided lower back and tail bone pain for a long time. The emergency room records indicate that she related this pain to driving. Welcome was subsequently seen by Dr. Khan on November 12, 2002. At that time, she complained of pain in her tail bone for the last year, but reported no history of trauma. Prior to September 2002, Welcome was seen in Moss Regional's Walk-In Clinic on August 29, 2001, for complaints of lower back pain and musculoskeletal strain as a result of heavy lifting. On October 10 and 12, 2001, she returned to the clinic for right groin pain after falling onto her right hip at home. On October 17, 2001, she complained of right thigh pain at Moss Regional's Gynecological Clinic.
The workers' compensation judge held that Welcome failed to prove that her lower back condition was work-related:
I have read and reread the doctor's report and done the same with my notes. I have paid close attention to everyone who testified in live testimony sitting no more than three feet from them at all times, and I can find nothing to support her claim that she has a work related injury . The most liberal and forgiving interpretation of her live testimony and the jurisprudence would leave any trier of fact forced to conclude that she is probably a woman with serious health problems, but the resolution of these problems do not belong in this particular court.
Reviewing this finding pursuant to the manifest error standard of review, we find that the workers' compensation judge was presented with differing views of the evidence and that he chose not to credit the testimony offered by Welcome. Welcome admitted that her lower back condition developed gradually over time. Other than the September 11, 2002 incident, which occurred the day prior to her termination, she could point to no other specific incident as precipitating her condition. She told Dr. Duhon that her pain commenced in May or June 2002, while Moss Regional's records indicate that she was also seen for lower back pain in August 2001. Furthermore, the Nursing Home did not learn of Welcome's alleged injury until she filed her disputed claim for compensation. Considering the conflicting views, we cannot say that it was unreasonable for the workers' compensation judge to find that Welcome failed to prove a work-related injury to her lower back. Accordingly, this assignment of error is dismissed as being without merit.
Considering these findings, we need not discuss Welcome's third assignment of error.
CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons, the judgment of the workers' compensation judge is affirmed. The costs of this appeal are assessed to the plaintiff-appellant, Pamela Welcome.
AFFIRMED.
|