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Rhodes v. Dolet Hills Mining Co.2/28/2001
AFFIRMED.
AMY, Judge.
The employer/health insurer filed a claim against the workers' compensation insurer for reimbursement of costs of medical treatment paid on behalf of the injured employee. The workers' compensation judge found medical treatment to be reasonable and necessary and ordered that the health insurer be reimbursed for cost actually incurred. The workers' compensation insurer appealed. For the following reasons, we affirm.
Factual and Procedural Background
Robert Rhodes was injured in the course and scope of his employment with Dolet Hills Mining Venture (Dolet) on January 25, 1992. As a result of the injury, Mr. Rhodes underwent extensive medical intervention including; two back surgeries, several years of rehabilitation, and pain management treatment. During the course of Mr. Rhodes' medical treatment, both the workers' compensation insurer, Old Republic Insurance Company (Republic) and Dolet, as a self-insured health insurer, paid for portions of the treatment. This matter arises out of Dolet's request for reimbursement of the expenses it paid for medical treatment it alleges arose out of the work-related injury.
Shortly after his accident in 1993, Mr. Rhodes underwent a lumbar discectomy surgery in an attempt to alleviate the resulting back pain. Following that surgery, Mr. Rhodes was able to return to work for Dolet. However, within two weeks of his return, Mr. Rhodes allegedly re-injured his back. Subsequently, on October 26, 1993, Mr. Rhodes underwent a second discectomy and a fusion. During this surgery, the orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Albert Dean, placed rods and pedicle screws in Mr. Rhodes' back to support the fusion.
On September 26, 1994, Dr. Dean released Mr. Rhodes to light-duty work finding that he had reached maximum medical improvement. Mr. Rhodes, however, testified that he believed his condition began to worsen after the second surgery. He alleged that his back pain had become unbearable, he had developed bowel and bladder problems, and was able to perform little to no physical activity. On November 2, 1994, Dr. Dean examined Mr. Rhodes again, and found no objective evidence to substantiate Mr. Rhodes' continuous complaint of pain. After reviewing several x-rays taken of Mr. Rhodes, Dr. Dean opined that the rods and screws used to stabilize Mr. Rhodes' back were in "good position" and that surgery to remove the hardware would not be an appropriate treatment.
Unwilling to accept Dr. Dean's diagnosis, Mr. Rhodes proceeded to seek treatment from various doctors in and out of Louisiana in order to relieve his pain. In addition to repeated visits to his urologist, Dr. Milton Eichmann, and to the Natchitoches Parish Emergency Room, Mr. Rhodes saw Drs. Carl Goodman and Robert Slaughter of the Spine Reconstruction Clinic in Birmingham, Alabama; Drs. Anil Nanda and Carl Goodman at the Louisiana State Medical Center in Shreveport, Louisiana; and Dr. Ross Nelson at the Willis Knighton Center for Pain Medicine. All of the physicians and specialists who observed Mr. Rhodes basically determined there was very little that could be done for his pain other than prescriptive medications and pain management therapy.
Still unsatisfied with the treatment recommended, Mr. Rhodes began searching for a physician who would remove the hardware that had been placed in his back. In January of 1998, Mr. Rhodes was examined by Dr. Bob Blacklock, the head of Neurosurgery for the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. At first, Dr. Blacklock concluded that Mr. Rhodes was suffering from chronic prostatitis and referred him to a urologist, Dr. Goldfarb. After his examination of Mr. Rhodes, Dr. Goldfarb det
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