JAMES W. MATHIS, APPELLANT,
v.
KELLY CONSTRUCTION COMPANY AND EMPLOYERS INSURANCE OF WAUSAU, APPELLEES
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Florida's workers' compensation statute requiring use of AMA Guides for permanent impairment evaluation does not violate substantive due process where the injury is covered by those Guides.
Section 440.15(3)(a)3 and (b)1, Florida Statutes, requiring evaluation of permanent physical impairment according to the AMA Guides, is constitutional as applied to knee joint injuries.
[1] A workers' compensation statute requiring evaluation of permanent physical impairment according to the American Medical Association Guides does not violate substantive du…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceClaimant suffered a knee injury. Dr. Sullivan, the treating orthopedic physician, testified that the AMA Guides assigned no impairment rating because …
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PER CURIAM.
In this workers’ compensation appeal the claimant argues that Section 440.15(3)(a)3, Florida Statutes (1979), as implemented by Section 440.15(3)(b)l, denies substantive due process of law because it restricts the evaluation of permanent physical impairment to the American Medical Association’s Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment. We disagree.
The relevant facts are essentially undisputed. Dr. Sullivan, the claimant’s treating orthopedic physician, testified that according to the AMA Guides, no impairment rating was assignable to claimant's knee injury because the only criterion used by those Guides in the evaluation of impairment to the knee joint was loss of range of motion and claimant had no such problem. Based on his own experience as an orthopedic surgeon and upon an alternative guideline, Dr. Sullivan opined that the claimant had a thirty percent (30%) permanent partial impairment rating as a result of his knee injury. Since this particular injury (a knee joint injury) is covered by the Guides, Sections 440.15(3)(a)3 and 440.15(3)(b)l, Florida Statutes (1979), are constitutional as applied. Rhaney v. Dobb’s House, Inc., 415 So. 2d 1277 (Fla. 1st DCA, 1982), modified on rehearing, (June 16, 1982). See also, Carr v. Central Florida Aluminum Products, Inc., 402 So. 2d 565 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981).
AFFIRMED.
McCORD, MILLS and SHIVERS, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
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Fred v. Sasso, 431 So. 2d 204 (Fla. 1st DCA 1983)…Fla. 1st DCA 1982); Noel v. M. Ecker & Co., 422 So. 2d 1062 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982); Mahoney v. Sears, Roebuck & Co., 419 So. 2d 754 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982); Acton v. Ft. Lauderdale Hospital, 418 So. 2d 1099 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982); Mathis v. Kelly Constr. Co., 417 So. 2d 740 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982); Rhaney v. Dobbs House, Inc., 415 So. 2d 1277 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982); and Miami-Dade Water & Sewer Authority v. Cormio, 388 So. 2d 1238 (Fla. 1st DCA 1979), aff'd. sub nom., Rollins v. Southern Bell Telephone and Telegraph Co., 384…
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Trindade v. Abbey Road Beef 'N Booze, 443 So. 2d 1007 (Fla. 1st DCA 1983)…ing that the claimant had not sustained a permanent impairment under the American Medical Association’s Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment (1977) (“AMA Guides ”). The DC relied upon our decision in Mathis v. Kelly Construction Company, 417 So. 2d 740 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982), to deny wage loss benefits, since the medical testimony reflected that Trindade had no loss of range of motion in his knee, and thus had no permanent impairment assignable under the AMA Guides. Trindade concedes that Section 44…1 / 3
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Martin Cnty. Sch. Bd. & Gallagher Bassett Ins. Serv. v. McDANIEL, 465 So. 2d 1235 (Fla. 1st DCA 1984)…r generally accepted medical standards,” particularly when the particular injury was not covered in the Guides. Id. at 452. In that Trindade has approved the holdings in these cases, while disapproving those in Mathis v. Kelly Construction Company, 417 So. 2d 740 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982), and other opinions of this court, indi-eating that the Guides only may be used to determine the existence or degree of impairment, Trindade must be said, under the circumstances, to authorize as “generally accepted medical crite…
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
- Ada Rhaney v. Dobbs House, 415 So. 2d 1277 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982)
- Dirk Allan Carr v. Cent. Fla. Aluminum Prods., Inc., 402 So. 2d 565 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981)