MWCC NO: 98 11123-G-4255
DELORIS CALVIN CLAIMANT
vs.
DUTCH ANN FOODS, INC.
EMPLOYER
AND
ZENITH INSURANCE COMPANY
CARRIER
REPRESENTING CLAIMANT:
Honorable Chester Ray Jones, Attorney at Law,
Natchez, Mississippi
REPRESENTING DEFENDANT:
Honorable Leland S. Smith, Attorney at Law, Jackson,
Mississippi
The Commission heard the above styled cause on February 26, 2001, in the offices of the Mississippi Workers' Compensation Commission, Jackson, Mississippi on the Claimant's "Petition for Review" by the Full Commission.
Having heard the arguments offered on behalf of the parties and having thoroughly studied the record and the applicable law, the Commission affirms the "Order of Administrative Judge" dated September 28, 2000 with one exception. The Administrative Judge awarded temporary total disability benefits from August 1, 1998 through November 5, 1998. In our opinion, temporary total disability benefits should be awarded from August 1, 1998 through October 22, 1999, the date of maximum medical improvements established by Dr. Hill and the Order of Administrative Judge is amended accordingly.
SO ORDERED, this the 27th day of February, 2001.
MISSISSIPPI WORKERS' COMPENSATION COMMISSION
BY: BARRETT SMITH
BARNEY SCHOBY
COMMISSIONERS
ATTEST:
Joann McDonald, Secretary
___________________________
MWCC No. 98 11123-G-4255
DELORIS CALVIN CLAIMANT
vs.
DUTCH ANN FOODS, INC.
EMPLOYER
AND
ZENITH INSURANCE CO.
CARRIER
REPRESENTING CLAIMANT:
Chester Ray Jones, Esq., Natchez, MS
REPRESENTING EMPLOYER:
Christopher Hughes, Esq., Jackson, MS
The claimant filed her petition for benefits on
November 12, 1998 claiming physical and mental disabilities resulting from
an occupational injury to her hand on July 31, 1998. The defendants duly
answered admitting the compensability of the hand injury, but denying any
mental injury. The case was heard on the merits in Natchez on February
24, 2000. Subsequent to the hearing, counsel for the parties conferred
with the Administrative Judge and requested additional time to attempt
a settlement of the claim, which request-was granted. By letter from defense
counsel dated August 21, 2000, the parties notified the undersigned that
they. would not be able to reach an accommodation.
Prior to the hearing, the parties were able to stipulate that the claimant's average weekly wage at the time of her admitted hand injury was $110.00, and that General Exhibits 1-11, as set out in the Exhibit Inventory herein, were admissible in evidence.
During the course of the hearing, the medical
records of Dr. Alphonse Reed, without affidavit, were admitted as Employer/Carrier
Exhibit 12; a report by vocational rehabilitation expert Nathaniel Fentress
was admitted as General Exhibit 13; the claimant's deposition, taken on
March 23, 1999, was admitted as Claimant Exhibit 14; a composite of medical
bills allegedly related to the claim was admitted as Claimant Exhibit 15;
and the supplemental treatment records of Dr. Lawrence
Hill were admitted without affidavit as Claimant
Exhibit 16.
It is uncontested that the claimant is a 42 year old Natchez resident who injured her right hand when it got caught in the mechanism of a tart-making machine which she was cleaning at Dutch Ann Foods in Natchez on July 31, 1998; that Ms. Calvin was taken by ambulance to the emergency room at Natchez Regional Medical Center immediately following the accident and treated and released that day; that x-rays of the claimant's injured hand taken at Natchez Regional were negative for any significant fracture; that she was then sent for further treatment to Dr. J. Carl Passman, a Natchez orthopedist; that Dr. Passman treated the claimant conservatively, prescribing physical therapy and pain medication, from August 4, 1998 to October 13, 1998; that Dr. Passman released her at maximum medical improvement, without restrictions or any impairment rating, on October 13, 1998 (see Ex. 3); and that the claimant never returned to work at Dutch Ann Foods following her injury. Dr. Passman's note of September 15, 1998 indicates that Ms. Calvin told him on that date she had just spent 13 days in Charter Hospital in Jackson, where she had been referred by the emergency room at Natchez Regional after experiencing "nightmares and flashbacks."
While there are no records from Charter Hospital
separately in evidence under affidavit, certain records from Charter regarding
Ms. Calvin are in evidence by stipulation as an exhibit to the deposition
testimony of Dr. Wood Hiatt, a psychiatrist who examined the claimant at
the request of the defendants in January of 1999 (see General Exhibit 6).
These Charter records indicate that the claimant was indeed referred there
by a Dr. Wheelis at Natchez Regional Medical Center on August 21, 1998,
after she had presented at the Natchez Regional emergency room with suicidal
and disruptive behavior; that Ms. Calvin was transported by ambulance from
Natchez Regional and admitted to Charter in Jackson on that same date;
that her attending psychiatrist at Charter from that date until her release
on September 3, 1998 was Dr. Mario Pineda; that her chief complaint at
admission was that she 'was hearing voices commanding
her to harm herself and others; that Dr. Pineda diagnosed her at admission
and at discharge as suffering from severe depression as well as from post
traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) "due to injury at work;" that she informed
the Charter staff on admission that, she had "no previous psychiatric history;"
and that she was released with a referral to Southwest Mississippi Mental
Health Center in Natchez for continuing follow-up care.
Certain records from Southwest Mississippi Mental Health Center are attached as exhibits to the deposition of Dr. Lawrence Hill, taken on March 23, 1999, which deposition was admitted by stipulation as General Exhibit 11. Dr. Hill also testified at the hearing on behalf of the claimant, and his testimony and records establish that he was an affiliated psychiatrist at Southwest and began treating the claimant in that capacity on October 23, 1998; that Ms. Calvin presented to him on that date reporting suicidal and homicidal ideations, as well auditory hallucinations telling her to put her hand in the machine where she was injured and to kill people at work; that he diagnosed her primarily as psychotic and a danger to herself at that time and recommended to the Southwest staff that she be hospitalized; that the staff then made arrangements for her hospitalization at University Medical Center in Jackson;1 and that he next saw her on November 6, 1998. Dr. Hill testified that he did not diagnose the claimant as suffering from PTSD until November 20 or 21, 1998; that he was initially more concerned with treating her acute psychosis; and that the claimant told him about her hand injury on her first visit and said that she had not had any psychiatric or mental problems prior to that injury.
Records from University Medical Center under affidavit are in evidence by stipulation as General Exhibit 10, and they establish that Ms. Calvin was admitted there for psychiatric evaluation, on referral from Southwest, on October 25, 1998; that she was evaluated and treated at University by Dr. John Richardson, the attending psychiatrist, and Dr. Douglas Byrd, a psychiatric resident; that she gave an initial history of suffering from panic attacks and auditory hallucinations, as well as some suicidal ideations, beginning subsequent to her hand injury; that her mental status improved during her treatment at UMC to the point that her nightmares and auditory hallucinations had resolved; and that she was discharged on November 5, 1998. With a diagnosis of "acute pain disorder with psychological factors and general medical condition (sic)," and with instructions to follow up at the Mental Health Center in Natchez, beginning the day after her discharge.
As previously mentioned, the claimant was indeed examined by Dr. Hill at Southwest in Natchez on the day of her release from UMC, and Dr. Hill testified that Ms. Calvin reported auditory hallucinations and homicidal ideations to him on that date, that she was psychotic and paranoid at that time, and that he was more focused on treating her psychosis at that time as opposed to any possible PTSD. He stated that the claimant was not better after her release from UMC, that she remained a danger to herself, and that she was totally unable to work at that time because of her psychotic condition. Dr. Hill continued to see Ms. Calvin every two weeks at the clinic at Southwest for the remainder of 1998, treating her with medication, and he began seeing her in his own office in Natchez in mid-January of 1999. He testified that as of January 25 of 1999, Ms. Calvin's psychosis was in remission and he began dealing primarily with her PTSD.
In the meantime, Ms. Calvin was being examined by Dr. Wood Hiatt, a psychiatrist in Jackson, at the request of the defendants. Dr. Hiatt's deposition is in evidence by stipulation as General Exhibit 6, and he testified that he examined the claimant on January 12 and 13 of 1999 for a total of three hours, had her evaluated by psychologist affiliated with his clinic, Sharon Pugh,2 on February 3, 1999, and then provided a report to counsel for the defendants dated March 11, 1999. Dr. Hiatt said he had the benefit of records from Dr. Passman, Natchez Regional Medical Center, Southwest Mental Health, Charter Hospital, and Dr. Hill at the time he examined the claimant, and that he also obtained and read the claimant's records from UMC prior to writing the final draft of his March 11 report to counsel. Dr. Hiatt testified that the records he obtained from Southwest revealed that the claimant had been treated there as far back as 1984 and had a history of ongoing mental problems since then, despite her telling him that she had no such prior problems. He determined that Ms. Calvin was deliberately exaggerating her psychotic symptoms and did not have any psychotic condition resulting from her hand injury at Dutch Ann Foods, that she did have an acute stress reaction to her hand injury which possibly resulted in PTSD, and that any PTSD she may have suffered following her hand injury had completely resolved by the time she was released from UMC on November 5, 1998 (See Ex. 6. pp. 50-55).
The claimant continued to treat with Dr. Hill in Natchez during the first half of 1999 and, based on a recommendation by Dr. Hill, she brought a motion before Administrative Judge Deneise Lott urging that the defendants be compelled to provide her with psychiatric hospitalization. Upon consideration of this motion, but prior to deciding it, Judge Lott issued an Interlocutory Order dated July 26, 1999 whereby the claimant was ordered to submit to an independent evaluation by Dr. Phillip Meredith, a psychiatrist in Jackson. This order was made part of the present record, by stipulation, as General Exhibit 1.
Dr. Meredith's report, dated August 23, 1999, is in evidence as Exhibit 4. He notes that he had the benefit of all the pertinent records and reports from Southwest, Natchez Regional, Charter, UMC and Drs. Alphonse Reed, Passman, Hill, Hiatt and Pugh, and that he interviewed Ms. Calvin, for four hours, and her brother, for half an hour, on August 14, 1999. Dr. Meredith drew the following conclusion from his evaluation of the claimant:
2. She had suffered a work-connected mental/psychological impairment due to acute PTSD, from which she had reached maximum medical recovery by the time she was released from UMC on November 5, 1998.
3. Because she was malingering symptoms of mental illness, it was difficult to assess any permanent mental/emotional impairment she might experience, but it was his recommendation that she be restricted "from employment in a manufacturing environment such as Dutch Ann Foods."
4. She would need future mental health services and treatment, but this would be entirely attributable to her long history of mental illness and not at all to any work connected mental/psychological impairment.
Dr. Hill continued to treat Ms. Calvin following this September order, and was still treating her at the time of the subject hearing in February of this year. He conceded, both in his deposition and in his testimony on the stand, that he did not become aware of her prior history of mental problems until he read Dr. Hiatt's deposition, and that the claimant had told him she had no such prior problems. He nevertheless maintained at the hearing that she continued to be impaired by PTSD resulting from her hand injury and was incapable of engaging in any kind of gainful employment in a manufacturing environment similar to Dutch Ann Foods. He said she could return to some form of work, but she would need psychiatric care for the rest of her life.3
Nathaniel Fentress, a vocational rehabilitation expert, appeared on behalf of the claimant. He testified that Ms. Calvin was referred to him for evaluation by her attorney in September of 1999, that he interviewed Ms. Calvin and examined the medical records to date from Drs. Meredith, Reed, Hill, Richardson (UMC), Passman and Pineda (Charter), and that he then provided a report to the claimant's attorney dated October 6, 1999 (see Gen. Ex. 133). It was Mr. Fentress' opinion that the claimant was "totally vocationally disabled from gainful employment" by the combined effects of her right hand crush injury and her psychiatric problems.
Ms. Calvin testified in support of her claim, and she acknowledged that she had not worked since her injury at Dutch Ann Foods, as well as that she was presently collecting SSI benefits. She stated that she had tried to find a job about two weeks prior to the hearing, but none was offered to her, and that she did not believe she could work because she had "bad thoughts" about hurting other people if she missed her medication. She said her daughter was presently living with her to help care for her, and that her mother also helped care for her.
Kila Calvin, the claimant's daughter, also testified in her behalf. She confirmed that she was presently living with her mother to help care for her, and stated that her mother was more withdrawn and less outgoing than she had been before her injury at work. She said she had gone with her mother to a job interview at the Executive Inn in Natchez on the previous Tuesday, but she did not know if her mother had been offered the front desk clerk position that was open. Kila said that her mother might not be able to do that job because it involved the handling of money, which her mother did not like to do, and that she did not think her mother was able to work at all, based on what Dr. Hill had told them.
Bill Jones, the president of Dutch Ann Foods,
was called as an adverse witness by the claimant. Mr. Jones said he instructed
his secretary to call and write Ms. Calvin several times after her injury
in an effort to invite her to return to work, but the company never got
a response from her. He said Ms. Calvin was, to his knowledge, a good employee
with a good attendance record prior to her injury.
Upon consideration of the relevant evidence and the applicable law, the Administrative Judge finds and concludes as follows:
1. The claimant suffered a compensable injury to her right hand on July 31, 1998, and she was temporarily totally disabled as a result of this physical injury from August 1, 1998 until October 13, 1998, on which latter date Dr. Passman released her without any restrictions or any impairment rating.
2. The claimant has failed to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that she suffered any permanent occupational disability attributable to the physical injury to her hand.
3. The claimant suffered post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a direct result of her hand injury on July 31, 1998, and she was temporarily totally disabled due to her PTSD from August 1, 1998 until November 5, 1998, based on the weight of the expert evidence, namely the testimony of Drs. Hiatt and Meredith.
4. The medical services ands supplies provided and prescribed by Natchez Regional Medical Center, Dr. Passman, Charter Hospital, Southwest Mississippi Mental Health Center, Dr. Hill and the University of Mississippi Medical Center between the dates of July 311, 1998 and November 5, 1998 were reasonable and necessary to the treatment of the claimant's compensable hand injury and PTSD and her recovery therefrom.
5. The claimant has failed to prove by a preponderance
of the evidence that she suffered any permanent mental or psychological
occupational disability as a result of her compensable hand injury or her
compensable PTSD.
IT IS, THEREFORE, ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that the employer and carrier pay and provide workers' compensation benefits to the claimant as follows:
1. Temporary total disability benefits in the amount of $73.37 per week for the period beginning August 1, 1998 and ending November 5, 1998, with credit allowed for any such benefits previously paid. To each installment not timely paid there is added the statutory 10% penalty.
2. Such medical services and supplies as may reasonably be necessary to the treatment of the claimant's compensable injuries and her recovery therefrom, including in particular those specifically set out herein above, but with all such benefits being subject to statute and to the rules and fee schedule of the Commission.
SO ORDERED this the 28th day of September, 2000.
JAMES HOMER BEST
ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE
ATTEST:
Joann McDonald, Commission Secretary
___________________________
1. Southwest is strictly an outpatient clinic and the claimant was not receiving any workers' compensation benefits at this time, so she was referred to University as an indigent patient, according to Dr. Hill.
2. Dr. Pugh's report is in evidence separately as Exhibit 8.
3. Dr. Hill's testimony, both at the hearing and in his deposition, was and is quite confusing to the Administrative Judge, making it thus difficult to summarize.