Thomas Daniel Whited v. Wilson Farmers Cooperative,

This workers' compensation appeal has been referred to the Special Workers' Compensation Appeals Panel of the Supreme Court in accordance with Tenn. Code Ann. _ 5-6-225(e)(3) for hearing and reporting to the Supreme Court of findings of fact and conclusions of law. In this appeal, the employer insists the trial court erred in its resolution of the issues of causation, permanency, extent of permanent disability, medical expenses and discretionary costs. As discussed below, the panel has concluded the judgment should be affirmed. Tenn. Code Ann. _ 5-6-225(e) (1999) Appeal as of Right; Judgment of the Criminal Court Affirmed LOSER, SP. J., in which BIRCH, J. and PEOPLES, SP. J., joined. William E. Halfacre, III, Madewell, Jared, Halfacre & Williams, Cookeville, Tennessee, for the appellants, Wilson Farmers Cooperative and Hartford Casualty Insurance. Lena Ann Buck and Frank Buck, Buck & Buck, Smithville, Tennessee, for the appellee, Thomas Daniel Whited. MEMORANDUM OPINION The employee or claimant, Whited, is 18 or 19 years old with an eighth grade education, who reads at a third grade level and performs mathematics and comprehensive reading at the second grade level. On November 13, 1997, while working for the employer, Wilson Farmers Coop, he suffered a crushing injury to his left hand, when the hand was accidentally caught between a fork lift and a steel post. The manager of the Coop was an eye witness to the accident and so testified at the trial. Whited continued to work, but has repeatedly re-injured the same hand. He has seen a number of doctors, some of whom were provided by the employer and some of whom were not. Warren McPherson is a board certified neurosurgeon licensed in Tennessee. He saw the claimant once on December 1, 1997. Dr. McPherson's impression was a soft tissue injuryto the area of the fourth knuckle, no evidence of reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RSD) involving the left upper extremity. The doctor said he would be "very surprised" if the claimant had any permanent impairment. Douglas Ray Weikert, is a board certified orthopedic surgeon licensed in Tennessee with certifications in hand and microsurgery. Dr. Weikert first saw the claimant on June 8, 1998. The doctor's first impression was a psychological condition, conversion reaction. When he saw the claimant on July 15, after another accident at work, he noticed some localized swelling of the injured hand, but ruled out RSD and opined the claimant would retain no permanent impairment. John McInnis is a board certified orthopedic surgeon licensed in Tennessee. Dr. McInnis first saw the claimant on February 9, 1998, when the claimant complained of pain. He continued to complain of pain in his injured hand when the doctor saw him on other occasions and after tests were ordered. Dr. McInnis continually noticed swelling and tenderness in the hand, but ruled out RSD and prescribed no restrictions. Robert E. Ivy is an orthopedic surgeon licensed in Tennessee, with a certificate in hand surgery. Dr. Ivy performed an independent examination of the claimant on April 2, 1999 and ruled out RSD and did not assign any permanent impairment. Richard Theodore Rutherford is a licensed practicing physician in Carthage, who saw the claimant in September 1998, prescribed pain medication and suggested he see a hand surgeon. Dr. Rutherford saw the claimant again the following month and the injured hand was swollen and very tender. He made a preliminary diagnosis of RSD. The claimant's pain, the doctor said, "seemed to be far out of degree to what I was seeing and that's very typical of RSD." Dr. Rutherford referred the claimant to Dr. Thomas Hardy, who confirmed his opinions and findings. Thomas L. Hardy is a Tennessee licensed physician specializing in pain medicine, who first saw the claimant on April, 28, 1999. He observed that the injured left hand had decreased nail bed profusion, decreased blood flow to the hand, shiny skin on the fingers, coolness and loss of hair and that the hand was hypersensitive to light touch, pinprick and vibration. Stellate ganglion blocks failed to relieve the pain or raise the temperature in the hand. Dr. Hardy diagnosed RSD or complex regional pain syndrome. John R. Moore is a board certified plastic surgeon, who first saw the claimant on November 11, 1998 and diagnosed RSD. Dr. Moore's testimony established that the condition was causally related to the crush injury at work and that the claimant would be left with a "significant" permanent impairment. His testimony included the following exchange: -2-