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Poland v. Kroger #40412/8/1999
Application for rehearing may be filed within the delay allowed by Art. 2166, La. CCP.
In this workers' compensation case, claimant, Jeanie R. Poland, appeals the Workers' Compensation Judge's ("WCJ's") finding that she did not prove a causal relationship between her disabling back condition and her work-related back injury. For the following reasons, we affirm.
Factual Background
Jeanie R. Poland, a manager in the floral department of the Kroger #404 grocery store in Shreveport, Louisiana, alleged in these proceedings that she became disabled as a result of an injury she sustained when a metal desk affixed to the wall in the back area of Kroger came loose and fell on her. At trial, it was stipulated that claimant was injured in a work-related accident on January 23, 1997; however, the extent of her injuries remained in dispute.
Claimant's injuries were initially diagnosed as contusions to her lower back and left hand. Claimant then consulted her family physician, Dr. Allen Cox, who referred her to Dr. Don Burt, an orthopaedic surgeon. Dr. Burt noted that claimant was suffering from low back pain that was radiating into her right hip and down her right leg. Claimant denied to Dr. Burt a previous history of this type of injury.
Dr. Cox then ordered an MRI to be taken of claimant's lumbar spine. Dr. Kurt Grozinger, a radiologist, administered the procedure and found a mild central disc protrusion at L4-5 causing minimal to mild impingement upon the thecal sac.
Claimant was then referred to Dr. Ramos, a neurosurgeon, for an evaluation. As with Dr. Burt, claimant did not relate a previous history of this type of injury. Dr. Ramos recommended that claimant undergo surgical treatment and over the next several months, he performed three separate surgeries on claimant's lumbar spine at L4-5 and L5-S1.
For eight weeks following the accident, Kroger paid claimant temporary total disability indemnity benefits totaling $1,802.64 and medical expenses totaling $4,762.59. Kroger then terminated all benefits based on its belief that claimant's disabling condition was caused solely by a pre-existing condition attributable to a 1995 automobile accident.
In the 1995 accident, claimant's car was totaled and she received injuries to her low back, neck, hips and jaw. Her tort claim for this accident was still pending as of the date of trial in the instant matter. As a result of this accident, claimant's injury caused her to experience low back pain that radiated down her right leg. An MRI of claimant's lumbar spine revealed degenerative disk disease at L4-5 and L5-S1 with a small central disk bulge at L4-5 causing minimal effacement of the thecal sac. At this point, a conservative course of treatment was followed, i.e., pain medication and physical therapy. Claimant missed approximately three months of work before returning on a light duty basis.
In connection with the 1995 accident, claimant continued receiving treatment from Dr. Cox on a regular basis through February 1996. In January 1997, just prior to the present incident, claimant saw Dr. Cox complaining of neck pain. Dr. Cox referred her to North Louisiana Physical Therapy ("NLPT") where she was treated for neck and low back pain from January 13, 1997 to January 22, 1997.
Confronted with the proposition that claimant's disabling condition was a result of her automobile accident and not the Kroger accident, Dr. Cox stated that he felt that the Kroger accident exacerbated any pre-existing condition causing claimant to require surgery.
Likewise, Dr. Ramos testified that he felt that the Kroger accident aggravated a pre-existing con
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