HELLER BROTHERS AND LIBERTY MUTUAL, APPELLANTS,
v.
RONALD AVANS, APPELLEE
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The court held that the award of temporary total disability benefits and medical treatment was erroneous due to a lack of competent substantial evidence.
An employer/carrier appealed a workers' compensation order awarding temporary total disability benefits and medical treatment. The employer/carrier ha…
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PER CURIAM.
This cause is before us on appeal by the employer/carrier from a workers’ compensation order awarding temporary total disability benefits from the date of the accident and continuing, an examination, evaluation and treatment, if necessary, by Dr. German Montoya, and reserving jurisdiction to award attorney’s fees. We reverse the award of temporary total disability benefits, as there was no competent substantial evidence that claimant was unable to work subsequent to May 4, 1981.1 See Lindsley Home Care Centers v. Fuster, 413 So. 2d 810 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982). Accordingly, the Deputy Commissioner erred in awarding temporary total disability absent a showing of a bona fide work search. LeHigh Corporation v. Byrd, 397 So. 2d 1202, 1204 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981).
The award of an examination and treatment “if necessary” by Dr. Montoya was also erroneous, absent a conflict in the medical evidence, as there were no allegations that authorized remedial treatment furnished was inadequate or otherwise inappropriate. See K-Mart Corporation v. Nasoni, 377 So. 2d 821 (Fla. 1st DCA 1979). The claimant produced no evidence that further evaluation was reasonably required by the nature of his injury. Section 440.-13(1), Florida Statutes; Bryant v. Elberta Crate & Box Co., 156 So. 2d 844 (Fla.1963).
Accordingly, the order below is REVERSED.
BOOTH, WENTWORTH and WIGGIN-TON, JJ., concur. . On this date, the employer/carrier stopped voluntarily paying temporary total disability benefits.
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Bradley Constr. & Se. Fire Ins. v. White, 457 So. 2d 547 (Fla. 1st DCA 1984)…1), which section provides that an employer shall furnish to an injured employee remedial treatment for such period as the nature of the employee’s injury or the process of recovery requires. The E/C points to cases such as Heller Brothers v. Avans, 414 So. 2d 1191 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982), which hold that it is error for a deputy to require an E/C to pay for medical examinations and/or treatment where there exists no conflict in the medical evidence of record. The E/C further relies upon decisional language indica…1 / 2
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Romero v. Waterproofing Sys. OF Miami & Kemper Ins. Grp., 491 So. 2d 600 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986)…ry total disability benefits, a claimant must show, in the absence of medical evidence demonstrating an inability to work, that he engaged in a bona fide but unsuccessful search for work. Roston, 404 So. 2d at 175; see also Heller Brothers v. Avans, 414 So. 2d 1191 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982). The deputy commissioner correctly concluded that Romero’s job search, consisting of applying for work at five places during the seven months following the suspension of benefits, was inadequate to demonstrate a good faith work s…
Authorities Cited
- Lehigh Corp. & U. S. Fid. & Guar. Co. v. Byrd, 397 So. 2d 1202 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981)
- K-Mart Corp. v. Nasoni, 377 So. 2d 821 (Fla. 1st DCA 1979)
- Starling E. Bryant v. Elberta Crate & BOX Co. & Fla. Indus. Comm'n, 156 So. 2d 844 (Fla. 1963)
- Lindsley Home Care Ctrs. & Fred S. James & Co. of Fla., Inc. v. Lucy E. Fuster and the Division of Workers' Compensation, 413 So. 2d 810 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982)