Gardner v. Beverly Enters.
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Cite as 2009 Ark. App. 787
ARKANSAS COURT OF APPEALS
DIVISION IV
No. CA 09-511
CURTIS GARDNER
Opinion Delivered November 18, 2009
APPELLANT
V.
BEVERLY ENTERPRISES AND
CONSTITUTIONAL STATE SERVICES
APPELLEES
APPEAL FROM THE ARKANSAS
WORKERS’ COMPENSATION
COMMISSION
[NO. F204535]
AFFIRMED
COURTNEY HUDSON HENRY, Judge
Appellant Curtis Gardner appeals the decision of the Arkansas Workers’
Compensation Commission finding that appellant’s claim for medical benefits is barred by the
statute of limitations. For reversal, appellant contends that the Commission erred in finding
that his claim was one for additional benefits that is barred by the statute of limitations, rather
than one to enforce a previous award of benefits that is not time barred. We affirm the
Commission’s decision.
The record reflects that appellant sustained an admittedly compensable injury to his
lumbar spine on February 21, 2002. An MRI taken in March 2002 revealed a large right
paracentral disc protrusion at the L5-S1 level. To repair this herniated disc, appellant
underwent a right microlaminectomy and medial facetectomy, a lateral release decompression,
Cite as 2009 Ark. App. 787
a foraminoctomy, and an excision of the herniated disc on April 12, 2002. Dr. Larry
Armstrong, the neurosurgeon who performed the surgery, released appellant to return to
work on June 11, 2002. In a letter dated July 8, 2002, Dr. Armstrong stated that appellant
had reached maximum medical improvement, and the doctor released appellant from his care.
Dr. Armstrong also assigned a permanent physical impairment rating of ten percent.
Thereafter, appellant filed a claim for additional benefits that became the subject of a
hearing before an administrative law judge. According to the law judge’s opinion dated
October 27, 2004, appellant’s claim included a request for permanent partial disability benefits
and the payment of “medical services provided the claimant by and at the direction of
Dr. Charles Jennings.” The opinion further recites that “the disputed medical expenses
involve a single visit to Dr. Jennings (in December of 2003) and prescription medications
provided him at the direction of Dr. Jennings for the chronic low-back complaints he has
continued to experience.” The law judge also wrote:
In his deposition and testimony at the hearing, the claimant explained how he
came about seeing Dr. Jennings for this medication. He stated that “for quite
a while, months and months” after his last visit with Dr. Armstrong (on
June 10, 2002), Dr. Armstrong continued to refill his prescription medication.
Finally, he was advised by Dr. Armstrong that he needed to have his
medication handled by a “regular doctor,” such as Dr. Holder. Dr. Holder is
a general practitioner and was one of the claimant’s initial treating physicians.
The claimant testified that he then contacted Dr. Holder’s office and was
advised by Dr. Holder’s office to obtain these services from his family physician.
Thus, he consulted Dr. Jennings.
The law judge found reasonable and necessary the medical services rendered to appellant by
Dr. Jennings “in the form of an office visit in December 2003, and the replacement of the
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claimant’s prescription medication for the chronic effects of his compensable back injury.”
The law judge also awarded appellant permanent partial disability benefits of ten percent for
his physical impairment and a ten-percent loss in wage-earning capacity.
Appellant returned to Dr. Jennings on February 18, 2005, and again on March 29,
2005. Between those visits, on March 18, 2005, Dr. Jennings wrote a letter stating that
appellant continued to experience significant problems with his back. To address his
concerns, Dr. Jennings recommended that appellant have another MRI and that he be
evaluated by a neurologist and a physiatrist. Appellees refused to pay for an MRI or the
evaluations, and appellant sought no further medical treatment until an August 2006 visit with
Dr. Jennings. On August 14, 2006, appellant’s attorney submitted a letter to the Commission
as a claim for “additional benefits” to include a repeat MRI and an evaluation by a neurologist
as recommended by Dr. Jennings earlier in 2005. Appellees contested the claim and argued,
among other things, that the statute of limitations barred the claim.
After a hearing, the law judge, who had also decided the previous claim, issued an
opinion on July 15, 2008, finding that appellant’s present claim for further evaluation and
treatment was barred by the statute of limitations. The law judge found that appellees last
furnished medical services on March 19, 2005, as they had actual notice of appellant’s office
visit with Dr. Jennings on that date. The law judge thus concluded that appellant’s claim filed
on August 14, 2006, exceeded the one-year limitations period. Further, the law judge found
that the statute of limitations applied in this case because appellant’s claim for medical services
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was one for additional benefits and not the enforcement of the previous award of benefits.
In this regard, the law judge reasoned that appellant’s previous claim encompassed the single
visit to Dr. Jennings in December 2003 and that the award did not include any or all medical
services that Dr. Jennings might eventually provide or recommend. The law judge also found
that Dr. Jennings’s recommendations for a repeat MRI and a neurological evaluation were
new medical services that were not considered or contemplated at the time of the 2004
opinion.1
Appellant appealed this decision to the Commission, which affirmed and adopted the
law judge’s opinion. On appeal to this court, appellant argues that the Commission erred in
ruling that his claim was one for additional benefits and not the enforcement of the previous
award.
In cases in which any compensation, including disability or medical, has been paid on
account of injury, a claim for additional compensation shall be barred unless filed with the
Commission within one year from the date of the last payment of compensation or two years
from the date of the injury, whichever is greater. Ark. Code Ann. § 11-9-702(b)(1) (Supp.
2009). Our oft-stated rule is that, for purposes of this statute, the furnishing of medical
services constitutes payment of compensation. Spencer v. Stone Container Corp., 72 Ark. App.
1
The law judge found, however, that appellant’s claim for replacement medications
was not barred by the limitations period, as the 2004 opinion contemplated the provision of
medication indefinitely for the treatment of appellant’s chronic condition. Appellees have not
filed a cross-appeal to contest this aspect of the law judge’s decision.
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450, 38 S.W.3d 909 (2001). Moreover, an employer is deemed to be furnishing such services
if it has either actual notice or has reason to know of a claimant receiving medical treatment.
Id. In Helena Contracting Co. v. Williams, 45 Ark. App. 137, 872 S.W.2d 423 (1994), we held
that the aforementioned statute of limitations applies to claims for “additional compensation”
but not to those claims seeking the enforcement of awards made in a previous order. See also
Carroll Elec. Coop. v. Pack, 85 Ark. App. 293, 151 S.W.3d 324 (2004).
The issue before us is whether appellant’s present claim is one for additional benefits,
in which case it is barred by the statute of limitations, or whether the claim is not barred
because it is one to enforce the previous award rendered by the law judge in the October
2004 opinion. We hold that the Commission did not err in concluding that the claim is one
for additional benefits that is barred by the statute of limitations. Prior to the October 2004
opinion, appellant had reached maximum medical improvement and had been released from
his surgeon’s care. Appellant subsequently filed a claim for additional benefits. The October
2004 opinion is clear that the benefits appellant sought included a single office visit with
Dr. Jennings for the purpose of addressing his ongoing need for prescription medication. The
law judge’s award required appellee to pay for that office visit and the medication prescribed
by Dr. Jennings.
Appellant’s present claim encompasses Dr. Jennings’s subsequent
recommendation for further testing and evaluation. We must agree with the Commission’s
conclusion that these services were not considered or contemplated at the time of the
previous opinion. As such, appellant’s present claim is aptly characterized as one for additional
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benefits. Accordingly, the Commission did not err in finding that the claim is barred by the
statute of limitations.
Appellant’s brief also includes the argument that he, as a claimant, should not bear the
burden of proving when the last payment of benefits occurred. He then argues, as best we
can understand, that the record does not show when the last payment of compensation was
made because appellee failed to pay for the replacement medications following the October
2004 order. We simply note that the claimant has the burden of proving that he acted within
the limitations period. See Aluminum Co. of Am. v. Rollon, 76 Ark. App. 240, 64 S.W.3d 756
(2001); Spencer, supra. Otherwise, the record does not indicate that appellant raised this
argument below or that the Commission ruled on the issue. It is well settled that we will not
consider arguments advanced for the first time on appeal. Wallace v. W. Fraser S., 90 Ark.
App. 38, 203 S.W.3d 646 (2005).
Affirmed.
GRUBER and MARSHALL, JJ., agree.
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