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Waring v. Johnson6/12/2000
was restricted. As of her December 4, 1992 visit, Waring's main symptoms involved her neck, but she had less spasms and her range of motion was good. Dr. Diaz advised Waring to increase her activities and perform exercises at home.
On January 6, 1993, Dr. Diaz examined Waring when she experienced a recurrence of lower back discomfort brought on by lifting a holiday turkey on December 22, 1992. She noticed the pain immediately and it remained until her visit to the doctor. Dr. Diaz checked Waring's lumbar spine and reported the highest spasm and pain ratings to date. Her range of motion was minimal. Dr. Diaz ordered an MRI and a bone scan. Waring's bone scan was normal, but her MRI showed extensive degenerative disc disease and spinal stenosis, which is a narrowing of the spinal canal. According to Dr. Diaz, the cause of Waring's back complaints on that date "was a continuing problem from her motor vehicle accident that had probably aggravated an already present spinal stenosis." In addition, she suffered neck complaints which the doctor attributed to cervical strain caused by the accident. Dr. Diaz stated he did not believe Waring was malingering or faking her symptoms.
In January, Waring began experiencing more severe back problems, which affected her control over her legs, bowel, and bladder. Because of her increasing difficulties and Dr. Diaz's reluctance to engage in any different course of treatment, Waring decided to see a neurosurgeon. She spoke to one of her neighbors, who recommended she seek the assistance of Dr. Glenn Kindt, a neurosurgeon in Denver, Colorado, who had performed back surgery on Waring's neighbor. Dr. Kindt saw Waring four times: (1) on September 14, 1993, for her initial evaluation in which he reviewed her MRIs and recommended surgery; (2) on September 20, 1993, when he performed a laminectomy for stenosis and discectomy for a herniated disc on Waring; (3) at the follow-up visit on September 28, 1993; and (4) approximately two years later on August 21, 1995, when Waring continued to experience burning sensations down her right leg after standing for longer than two hours.
When asked the role Waring's accident played in her symptoms, Dr. Kindt was hesitant to give an opinion of the role of any accident in Waring's condition. However, he stated that if she had been in an accident and if her symptoms began at that time, he was quite certain the symptoms were related to the accident. Dr. Kindt explained that, while an accident could not have created the stenosis which required surgery, it could have aggravated it. When presented with hypothetical questions matching Waring's history, Dr. Kindt opined her stenosis was in fact aggravated by the accident and that her herniated disc could have been caused by the accident.
Sometime in 1994, after her surgery and return to Florida, Waring began experiencing muscle spasms which would sometimes last several days. In May of 1994, she visited the Carolina Spine Institute in Charleston, South Carolina, where she saw Dr. Steven Poletti for an independent medical evaluation of lower back pain.
In 1995, Waring moved to Seattle, Washington. On April 16, 1996, she began seeing Dr. Andrew Friedman, a doctor of physical medicine and rehabilitation. At that point, she could not engage in her prior hobbies such as fishing or swimming. Her main complaint was back pain. Dr. Friedman prescribed Darvocet and arranged for Waring to receive physical therapy to reduce her muscular contractures. In August of 1996, Waring returned to Dr. Friedman for a check-up because she had "new symptoms radiating down her leg." Her foot was becoming increasingly numb. One month later, Dr. Friedman gave her a steroid injection
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