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Ledford v. American Motorist Insurance Co.9/30/2005
This appeal has been perfected by the employee, Joseph Allen Ledford, from the trial court's action in awarding plaintiff 20 percent permanent partial disability to the body as a whole. Plaintiff insists he is totally disabled.
Facts
Plaintiff, a forty-one year old employee with a tenth grade education, testified he was employed as a forklift operator with Vinylex Corporation when he injured his back on June 5, 2000 while lifting. His work experience has been general labor jobs. He has not worked since the accident and says he cannot stand up very long and that his legs "go numb". His claim for total disability benefits is based on his back injury and his mental state of depression. During his testimony, he admitted he had been treated for back problems for about eight years prior to the accident and since the accident, he has been seen by many other doctors. Four doctors have testified by deposition in this proceeding.
Dr. Merrill White, an orthopedic surgeon, saw plaintiff shortly after the accident on June 13, 2000 and determined he had a soft tissue injury to the lumbar region which did not require surgery. The doctor's history indicated plaintiff had fallen from a roof about eight years prior and injured his back. Dr. White said he obtained a functional capacity evaluation which indicated the employee was capable of working at light to medium level with some restrictions on lifting. He was of the opinion plaintiff had a 5 percent medical impairment as a result of the lifting incident.
Dr. William B. Bingham, a family practice physician, saw plaintiff about one year later on June 8, 2001 for complaints of back pain and depression. He testified the MRI record indicated some bulging of a disc at L5-S1 level and a possible small herniation could not be excluded at that point, and also a bulging of the disc at L4-5. His diagnosis was chronic back pain and depression. When he saw him again in August of the same year, he recommended he enter a local psychiatric hospital for his symptoms and said he learned there had been a bipolar disorder diagnosis. As of that time, he opined he would not be able to do manual labor work.
Dr. Michael A. Fisher, a psychiatrist, performed an independent medical examination on August 13, 2003 and determined the employee was suffering from major depression, severe with psychotic features and that this condition was related to the accident in question. His history indicated plaintiff had been having hallucinations since he was ten years old. He also was asked about whether the condition was permanent and replied that he would not be able to give an opinion until he saw him for about a one year period.
Dr. Edward A. Workman, a neuropsychiatrist dealing in pain management, testified he examined plaintiff on March 4, 2004 and that he had received and reviewed numerous medical records of other doctors relating to his condition both before and after the accident in question. As to his physical condition before the accident on June 5, 2000, he said the medical records indicated a long history of low back pain, depression and anxiety disorders. He stated that the records disclosed that on June 2, 2000, three days prior to the time in question, plaintiff had received a narcotic pain killer, hydrocodone, from three different doctors and that during May 1998 he had been diagnosed with a depressive episode.
Dr. Workman testified plaintiff had ongoing hallucinations of voices from the dead and living family members and that he actually believed he could communicate with the dead. He had a drug screen on the employee which was positive for marijuana. The doctor's diagnosis was (1) serious border bipola
Page 1 2 3 Tennessee Personal Injury Attorneys
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