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Sanchez v. Zanio's Foods10/20/2005
te.
When asked during his deposition if he told Dr. Reeve about all of his prior back injuries, Worker stated, "I only had one prior back injury, and I did tell him about it." Yet Worker also testified that he did not remember giving Dr. Reeve his medical history, and that he never told Dr. Reeve he had a permanent impairment and was placed on work restriction as a result of his 1988 injury. Dr. Reeve testified that Worker denied a history of previous back injuries. Further, Dr. Reeve unequivocally testified that he was unaware of the 1988 injury. Similarly, Worker failed to inform Dr. Reeve about his visits to Dr. McCutcheon in 1988 and Lovelace in 1992, and Dr. Reeve testified that he was unaware of any prior treatment for back injuries, including any diagnostic workups such as the 1989 MRI. As well, Worker acknowledged that he provided no information about the 1992 and 2000 incidents to Dr. Reeve. Dr. Reeve testified that he was under the impression that the 2001 injury to Worker's back represented a new development. He further testified that prior to obtaining a medical opinion about the causal relationship between the degenerative condition of Worker's back and the 2001 injury, doctors providing opinions should have been supplied with Worker's prior MRIs and any other similar historical information.
Because Dr. Reeve's testimony is a critical component of the causation issue, we set out a portion of the questions and answers in his deposition:
Q: . . . So when questioned about a history of prior back pain or back injuries, is it correct to understand that when it says "denies low-back pain" that [Worker] was also denying a history of prior back injuries and back pain?
A: Yes.
Q: Okay. Doctor, I didn't see anywhere in this medical record where [Worker] reported to you that he had previously treated with Dr. McCutcheon for back problems. I'm talking about just the initial August 1st, 2001, record, which I'm going to go ahead and mark as Exhibit B to the deposition.
A: We didn't obtain that history.
Q: Okay. And, Doctor, had [Worker] told you that he had previously treated with Dr. McCutcheon or Dr. [Allen] Gelinas for back pain and back problems, would that have been history that you would have documented and recorded in his medical records?
A: Yes.
Q: Okay. Doctor, I didn't see anywhere in the history section where [Worker] reported to you that he had received previous medical treatment with Lovelace Healthcare for back pain and back problems.
A: Well, we didn't obtain that history, no.
Q: If [Worker] would have reported to you that he had previous back injuries and medical treatment for back pain at Lovelace Healthcare System, would that have been information you would have recorded in the medical records?
A: Yeah, it would have been important information for us to have.
Q: Okay. Doctor, I didn't see anywhere in here that [Worker] told you that in connection with previous back pain complaints, he had been diagnosed with degenerative changes in his lower back by his treating healthcare providers. Didn't see that anywhere. Do you know whether he made that and provided that information as part of his history?
A: No, we were treating this as if it were a new back injury that was sustained at work.
Q: All right. Doctor, so is it fair to say as a layman that what these doctors have found is that there are people walking around with no back pain that if you took them and put them under MRI, the older they get, the more likely they are going to have a bulge or herniation?
A: Absolutely.
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