ORIENTE EXPRESS INN AND ARGONAUT INSURANCE CO., APPELLANTS,
v.
EUGENIA C. RODRIGUEZ AND DIVISION OF WORKERS' COMPENSATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR & EMPLOYMENT SECURITY, APPELLEES
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An employer/carrier appealed a workers' compensation order awarding a waitress temporary total disability benefits and medical care from August 1978 to July 1980. The appellate court affirmed, holding that the medical evidence sufficiently established causation and continuity of disability despite gaps in medical documentation.
The court affirmed the award, holding that medical evidence sufficiently established a causal relation and did not negate the continuity of disability, particularly where the claimant's right to medical care was at issue. The award of medical care pursuant to F.S. 440.13 and the determination of maximum medical improvement were within the deputy's prerogatives as fact finder.
[1] Medical evidence sufficiently establishes a causal relation and does not negate the continuity of disability when a claimant's right to medical care is in issue during th…
[2] A workers' compensation order awarding medical care pursuant to a statutory provision is not necessarily in conflict with a determination of maximum medical improvement b…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“the medical evidence sufficiently establishes a causal relation and does not negate the continuity of such disability, particularly where claimant's right to medical care is in issue during the period in question”
The court's holding on why gaps in monthly medical documentation do not undermine the award of temporary total disability benefits
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceEugenia C. Rodriguez, a waitress, suffered a work-related injury and filed a workers' compensation claim. The employer/carrier (Oriente Express Inn an…
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WENTWORTH, Judge.
Employer/carrier appeals a workers’ compensation order granting a claim for temporary total disability compensation, awarding medical care “pursuant to the provisions of F.S. 440.13,” and finding claimant, a waitress, had not been rated for permanent disability. Compensability had been denied and the order states no benefits were voluntarily paid. Appellant challenges the sufficiency of evidence for the findings on date of maximum medical improvement and period of temporary disability, and for the award of medical care. We affirm.
Appellant urges reversal of the award of temporary disability compensation because the medical evidence, substantiating claimant’s testimony as to her physically disabling conditions, did not cover every month of the lengthy period in question between August 15, 1978, and July 21,1980.
We conclude, however, that the medical evidence sufficiently establishes a causal relation and does not negate the continuity of such disability, particularly where claimant’s right to medical care is in issue during the period in question. Decisions based on clear conflict between medical evidence and a claimant’s testimony, or absence of work search after a medical release for that purpose, are of course to be distinguished. Cf., Walter Glades Condominium v. Morris, 393 So. 2d 664 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981); Palm Beach Newspapers, Inc. v. Roston, 404 So. 2d 174 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981); Martin Marietta Corp. v. Johnson, 7 FCR 355 (1973), cert. denied, 283 So. 2d 557 (Fla.1973).
See also Orange County Board of County Commissioners v. Brenemen, 233 So. 2d 377 (Fla.1980), and Decks, Inc. of Florida v. Wright, 389 So. 2d 1074 (Fla. 1st DCA 1980).
For similar reasons appellant’s reliance on Cardinal Industries, Inc. v. Dawkins, 392 So. 2d 368 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981), is misplaced insofar as the order finds entitlement to future medical attention “pursuant to . . . F.S. 440.13.” No appeal is taken from the reservation of jurisdiction to determine permanent disability, and we find no conflict between the quoted language and the determination of maximum medical improvement based on the opinion of an examining physician. The circumstances, instead, present a situation well within the deputy’s prerogatives as fact finder. Appellant’s additional argument relates to impropriety of the order’s recitation of a physician’s report not in evidence. The error in this respect appears to be harmless since neither the record nor the face of the order indicate that the report had any significant bearing on the deputy’s conclusions.
The order is affirmed.
ERVIN and JOANOS, JJ., concur.
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Sanlando Util. Corp. & U. S. Fid. & Guar. Co. v. Morris, 418 So. 2d 389 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982)…er, it was prejudicial error to base an order on reports and papers not placed into evidence. We recognize that we found harmless error in a deputy commissioner’s consideration of a medical report not in evidence in Oriente Express Inn v. Rodriguez, 406 So. 2d 55, 56 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981). That case is easily distinguished, because the erroneously considered report had no “significant bearing on the deputy’s conclusions.” Considering that Dr. Kim’s medical report and the Social Security acceptance of the claim…
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Racz v. Chennault, Inc., 418 So. 2d 413 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982)…nd of work or vocational activity.” Dr. Bellino further stated that, based upon the medical records and his own observations, Racz’s total inability to work had not changed between August, 1980 and August, 1981. See Oriente Express Inn v. Rodriguez, 406 So. 2d 55 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981). In light of this medical evidence of claimant’s total inability to work, the deputy’s requirement of a work search as a prerequisite to temporary total disability benefits was erroneous. See Walter Glades Condominium v. Morris,…
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Witham v. Sheehan Pipeline Constr. Co. & Zurich Am. Ins. Co., 45 So. 3d 105 (Fla. 1st DCA 2010)…75 So. 2d 1219 (Fla. 1st DCA 2008) (holding that JCC’s error in accepting expert testimony was harmless because JCC specifically stated he would have reached the same result without the inadmissible expert opinion); Oriente Express Inn v. Rodriguez, 406 So. 2d 55 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981) (holding order’s recitation of medical report not in evidence was harmless where neither record nor face of the order indicate that report had any significant bearing on deputy’s conclusions). Because the competing expert opinio…
Previewing 3 of 5 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Walter Glades Condo. v. Petunia Morris, 393 So. 2d 664 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981)
- Johnson v. The Prosecuting Attorney FOR the Court OF Record, 233 So. 2d 377 (Fla. 1970)
- Redgate v. Nat'l Soc'y FOR the Prevention OF Blindness, Inc., 389 So. 2d 1074 (Fla. 4th DCA 1980)
- Decks v. Wright, 389 So. 2d 1074 (Fla. 1st DCA 1980)
- Cardinal Indus., Inc. v. Dawkins, 392 So. 2d 368 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981)
- Palm Beach Newspapers, Inc. v. Roston, 404 So. 2d 174 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981)
- Caivano v. State, 283 So. 2d 557 (Fla. 1973)
- Mavis Johnson v. Martin Marietta Corp., 283 So. 2d 557 (Fla. 1973)