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Dunn v. Riverview Medical Center6/21/2002
Guidry, J. concurs.
The salient issue raised on motion for summary judgment in this workers' compensation case is whether the claimant has proven a compensable occupational disease. For the following reasons, we reverse and remand.
In February of 2000, Paula Dunn filed a disputed claim form against her employer, Life Point Hospitals, Inc., d/b/a Riverview Medical Center, asserting an "occupational injury" as a result of her employment as a part-time registered nurse. Riverview filed a motion for summary judgment, asserting the claimant had suffered neither an accident nor an occupational disease and, therefore, was not covered under the Louisiana Workers' Compensation Act, LSA-R.S. 23:1031 et seq. The Workers' Compensation Judge (WCJ) granted Riverview's motion, and Ms. Dunn appealed.
In order to recover workers' compensation benefits, an employee must establish by a preponderance of the evidence that she received a personal injury by accident arising out of and in the course and scope of her employment or she contracted an occupational disease. LSA-R.S. 23:1031; 23:1031.1. LSA-R.S. 23:1021(1) defines an accident as "an unexpected or unforeseen actual, identifiable, precipitous event happening suddenly or violently, with or without human fault, and directly producing at the time objective findings of an injury which is more than simply a gradual deterioration or progressive degeneration." An occupational disease has been defined as one that is the result of a series of events, often imperceptible in nature, which are eventually evidenced in the manifestation of a disability. Vargas v. Daniell Battery Mfg. Co., Inc., 93-1249 (La.App. 1 Cir. 5/20/94), 636 So.2d 1194.
In support of its motion for summary judgment, Riverview offered the deposition testimony of the claimant and of Dr. John E. Clark. The claimant testified that she had a mastectomy of the left breast and a right side node resection in 1992. She began working at Riverview as a staff nurse in 1994. Initially, her duties did not require lifting patients. In 1995, due to a change in the patient population and a reduction in the staff of Riverview, her duties changed and she was required to lift patients. During this time, she developed lymphedema of the upper left arm, which is painful swelling due to pooling of interstitial fluid in the space between the cells outside the lymphatic and blood vessels. Her lymphedema would improve when she avoided lifting patients; however, it would return when she again lifted patients. The claimant also developed a friction lesion on her swollen upper left arm, from skin-to-skin contact, which became infected. Riverview refused her request for an assignment relocation to a position that did not require lifting, and the claimant resigned.
Dr. Clark, who is board certified in physical medicine and rehabilitation and specializes in the treatment of lymphedema, examined the claimant on May 26, 1999. He diagnosed her with lymphangitis, an infection of the lymph vessels resulting from the lesion, and lymphedema. He treated the infection with antibiotics, but upon discontinuation of the medication, the infection returned. Thus, he revised his diagnosis to chronic lymphangitis, requiring long-term antibiotic treatment.
Concerning the claimant's lymphedema, Dr. Clark stated it was secondary to her mastectomy, as this condition usually develops two or three years after surgery. He began a lymphedema program to manage her disease and advised her to avoid lifting patients, as overuse exacerbates lymphedema. Dr. Clark added that aggravation of lymphedema is cumulative, with each episode of swelling increasing the symptoms and weakening the vessels. The conditi
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