Staffmark Investments, LLC v. King
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Cite as 2009 Ark. App. 830
ARKANSAS COURT OF APPEALS
DIVISION II
No. CA09-837
STAFFMARK INVESTMENTS, LLC,
and AIG CLAIM SERVICES, INC.
APPELLANTS
V.
JAMES KING
APPELLEE
Opinion Delivered DECEMBER 9, 2009
APPEAL FROM THE ARKANSAS
WORKERS’ COMPENSATION
COMMISSION
[NO. F709541]
AFFIRMED
M. MICHAEL KINARD, Judge
Appellants, Staffmark Investments, LLC, and AIG Claim Services, Inc., appeal from
a decision of the Arkansas Workers’ Compensation Commission awarding additional medical
treatment to appellee, James King. We affirm the decision of the Commission.
Appellee was assigned by Staffmark to work at International Paper. Appellee testified
before an administrative law judge (ALJ) that his job was to work on an assembly line
throwing cardboard boxes into a machine that would assemble the boxes. On or about June
20, 2007, appellee was working at International Paper when a stack of boxes flipped over on
him, striking him from his head to his lower back. Appellants accepted the claim as
compensable and referred appellee to Dr. Michael Lack. Dr. Lack assessed appellee with hand
numbness and back contusion. Dr. Lack prescribed pain medication and heat treatment.
Dr. Lack also placed appellee on light-duty status with a restriction against any lifting over five
pounds.
Cite as 2009 Ark. App. 830
Appellee’s symptoms did not improve, and he began to experience arm and leg
numbness. Dr. Lack referred appellant to Dr. Terence Braden. In a report dated July 30,
2007, Dr. Braden stated that he could not find an objective cause for appellee’s complaints
of right arm and left hand numbness. Dr. Braden also recommended that appellee undergo
an MRI. According to Dr. Braden, the MRI revealed degenerative changes and moderate
to severe bony neuroforaminal stenosis on the left at C3 through C6. Dr. Braden saw no
evidence of disc herniations on the MRI. On November 6, 2007, appellee received neck
injections from Dr. Sunil Gera. On November 27, 2007, appellee reported to Dr. Gera that
the injections were not helping him, that he was experiencing constant headaches, and that
he could not work. Dr. Gera stated in his November 27, 2007 report that there was no cause
for appellee’s complaint that he cannot work.
On December 19, 2007, Dr. Braden declared that appellee had reached maximum
medical improvement, released appellee to work at full duty, and assessed a zero-percent
impairment rating. Appellee requested and received a change of physician to Dr. Rebecca
Barrett-Tuck. On March 26, 2008, appellee reported to Dr. Barrett-Tuck complaining of
pain in his neck and both arms, as well as numbness, tingling, and weakness in his hands.
Dr. Barrett-Tuck stated that appellee’s MRI revealed mild findings; she recommended a
myelogram and post-myelogram CT scans of appellee’s cervical spine. Appellants denied the
treatment recommended by Dr. Barrett-Tuck.
Appellee filed a claim for benefits with the Commission, seeking the treatment
recommended by Dr. Barrett-Tuck and additional temporary-total disability (TTD) benefits.
Cite as 2009 Ark. App. 830
On October 14, 2008, the ALJ issued an opinion awarding appellee the recommended
treatment and TTD benefits from June 22, 2007 through December 19, 2007. In an opinion
issued on June 18, 2009, the Commission affirmed the ALJ’s award of additional medical
benefits and reversed the ALJ’s award of TTD benefits.1 Appellants filed a timely notice of
appeal to this court.
In reviewing a decision of the Arkansas Workers’ Compensation Commission, this
court views the evidence and all reasonable inferences deducible therefrom in the light most
favorable to the Commission’s findings and affirms those findings if they are supported by
substantial evidence, which is evidence a reasonable person might accept as adequate to
support a conclusion. SSI, Inc. v. Lohman, 98 Ark. App. 294, 254 S.W.3d 804 (2007). We
will not reverse the Commission’s decision unless we are convinced that fair-minded persons
with the same facts before them could not have reached the same conclusions reached by the
Commission. Cedar Chem. Co. v. Knight, 99 Ark. App. 162, 258 S.W.3d 394 (2007).
The sole issue on appeal is whether substantial evidence exists to support the
Commission’s finding that the medical treatment sought by appellee is reasonably necessary
in connection with his compensable injury. An employer shall promptly provide for an
injured employee such medical services as may be reasonably necessary in connection with
the injury received by the employee. Ark. Code Ann. § 11-9-508(a) (Supp. 2009). When
a claimant requests certain medical treatment, the claimant must prove by a preponderance
of the evidence that the requested medical treatment is reasonably necessary. Wal-Mart Stores,
Appellee has not appealed from the denial of TTD benefits.
1
Cite as 2009 Ark. App. 830
Inc. v. Brown, 82 Ark. App. 600, 120 S.W.3d 153 (2003). Whether medical treatment is
reasonably necessary is a question of fact for the Commission. Diggs v. Cattlemen’s Livestock
Market, Inc., 2009 Ark. App. 249, __ S.W.3d __.
Appellee sustained a compensable injury when a stack of cardboard fell on him.
Following his accident, appellee complained of pain and numbness. Appellee received
conservative medical treatment that he contended did not help his symptoms. Although
Dr. Braden indicated that appellee’s MRI showed no objective findings related to appellee’s
compensable injury, Dr. Barrett-Tuck indicated that her review of the MRI revealed findings
that might explain appellee’s symptoms, and she recommended diagnostic tests designed to
further assess appellee’s medical condition. The opinion of Dr. Barrett-Tuck regarding the
findings on the MRI is substantial evidence to support the Commission’s award of additional
medical treatment to appellee. We therefore affirm the decision of the Commission.
Affirmed.
PITTMAN and BAKER, JJ., agree.
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