CHARLES TURNER, D.D.S. AND CHUBB GROUP INSURANCE, APPELLANTS,
v.
WAYDEAN D. HARMON, APPELLEE

Fla. 1st DCA | 1983-10-13
No. AR-178
ROBERT P. SMITH, Jr., and BOOTH, JJ., concur.
438 So. 2d 1030 Florida District Court of Appeal, First District (1983) Positive Treatment
Cited by 6 cases

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Synopsis

The Florida District Court of Appeal reversed a workers' compensation award, holding that causation between a workplace injury and a worker's hand condition must be based on reasonable medical probability, not mere speculation or possibility. The court found that the pre-existing lipoma (fatty tumor) was not causally related to the worker's accidental hand trauma based on the orthopedic surgeon's conclusive testimony.


Holding

The court held that causation in workers' compensation claims must be based on reasonable medical probability, not mere possibility or speculation. Because Dr. Urbach conclusively stated the lipoma was not causally related to the workplace trauma and any temporary aggravation had already been compensated through initial benefits paid, the deputy commissioner erred in finding the continued claim compensable.


Headnotes

[1] In workers' compensation cases, proof of causation between an accident and a condition must be based upon reasonable medical probability.

[2] Lay testimony alone is insufficient to establish causation in a workers' compensation claim when medical testimony does not establish causation based on reasonable medica…

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Key Quotes

“Substantial competent evidence does not support the deputy commissioner's finding of compensability. No evidence in the record causally relates appellant's present hand condition to her accident.”

Establishes that the court found the evidentiary foundation for compensability was insufficient.

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Facts & Procedural History

On September 16, 1981, Waydean Harmon injured her right hand while cleaning her employer's office by accidentally hitting it on a wooden surface. She …

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Opinion of the Court
WIGGINTON, Judge.

WIGGINTON, Judge.

As the sole issue for review in this workers’ compensation case, employer/carrier contend that the deputy commissioner erred in finding appellee’s hand injury compensable. We agree and reverse.

On September 16, 1981, while performing the task of cleaning her employer’s office, appellee sustained an industrial injury to her right hand by accidentally hitting it on a wooden surface. She noticed immediate swelling and the appearance of a big knot. Dr. Stevens initially treated appellee and instructed her to return to work.

The employer/carrier responded to appellee’s request for examination by an appropriate specialist and she was referred to Dr. Urbach, an orthopedic surgeon who first saw her in October of 1981. At that time, his examination revealed no indication of a hematoma but he found the need for exploratory surgery to determine the nature of a mass detected in appellee’s hand. Dr. Urbach performed the surgery in November, 1981 and excised the mass, finding it to be a “huge lipoma, which is a fatty tumor.” His testimony was that such tumors have no known cause and her tumor would have taken at least three to six months to develop. He believed that the tumor was the cause of appellee’s pain but, finding no evidence of hemorrhaging in the area, opined that it was not related to the trauma she suffered on September 16. He concluded that if the accident had aggravated the lipoma and caused superficial hemorrhaging, then that aggravation had subsided by the time of the surgery.

Employer/carrier initially accepted the injury as compensable and paid temporary total disability benefits from September 16 to December 9 and paid appellee’s medical bills through the time of her surgery. Ap-pellee filed her claim for continuing temporary total disability benefits as well as attorney’s fees, costs, interest, penalties, and medical bills incurred after the date of surgery.

The deputy found the injury to claimant’s right hand compensable based upon her testimony and that of Dr. Urbach, who stated that the trauma of the accident “could have aggravated the preexisting lipoma at least temporarily.” The deputy’s order further concluded that causation does not have to be proved within reasonable medical certainty or probability and may be proved by lay testimony in matters within the witness’s experience.

Substantial competent evidence does not support the deputy commissioner’s finding of compensability. No evidence in the record causally relates appellant’s present hand condition to her accident. Dr. Urbach stated conclusively that the lipoma was not causally related to the hand trauma suffered by appellee on September 16. Benefits for any possible aggravation of the lipoma have already been paid.

Contrary to the deputy’s conclusion, proof of causation between an accident and a condition, in a workers’ compensation claim, must be based upon reasonable medical probability. See Metric Constructors, Inc. v. Chiles, 429 So. 2d 1292 (Fla. 1st DCA 1983), and cases cited therein. In Chiles, the medical testimony established a “possible, but not probable,” relationship between the industrial accident and subsequent epi-didymitis. Mr. Chiles could only add that his pain began to occur after the injury. This Court cited error in the deputy’s finding of compensability because neither the doctor’s speculation as to the cause nor the lay testimony of Mr. Chiles — of his experiencing pain — was sufficient to establish causation based upon reasonable medical probability. Chiles at 1293.

REVERSED.

ROBERT P. SMITH, Jr., and BOOTH, JJ., concur.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Closet Maid & Crawford & Co. v. Sykes, 763 So. 2d 377 (Fla. 1st DCA 2000)
    …ausation must be proven to a reasonable degree of medical probability. But many of the opinions also referred to “reasonable medical certainty,” and used that phrase interchangeably with “reasonable medical probability.” See, e.g., Turner v. Harmon, 438 So. 2d 1030 (Fla. 1st DCA 1983); Horse Haven v. Witlit, 438 So. 2d 123 (Fla. 1st DCA 1983); Castro v. Florida Juice Division, 400 So. 2d 1280 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981). Indeed, Black’s Law Dictionary 1273 (7th ed.1998), indicates that the phrases “reasonable medical…
    1 / 2
  • Wilhelm v. State, 515 So. 2d 1343 (Fla. 2d DCA 1987)
    …lins v. State, 65 So. 2d 61 (Fla. 1953); Brown v. State, 62 So. 2d 348 (Fla. 1952); Graham v. State, 60 So. 2d 186 (Fla. 1952); Burley v. State, 59 So. 2d 744 (Fla. [*1345] 1952); State v. Ogbum, 483 So. 2d 500 (Fla. 3d DCA 1986); State v. Campbell, 438 So. 2d 1030 (Fla. 1st DCA 1983); Bascoy v. State, 424 So. 2d 80 (Fla. 3d DCA 1983); State v. Gray, 366 So. 2d 137 (Fla. 2d DCA 1979); Raleigh v. State, 365 So. 2d 1048 (Fla. 4th DCA 1978); Diggs v. State, 345 So. 2d 815 (Fla. 2d DCA 1977); State v. Turner, 345…
  • …, proof of causation requires medical testimony, based on reasonable medical probability, that the injury is causally connected to the claimant’s employment. Metric Constructors, Inc. v. Chiles, 429 So. 2d 1292 (Fla. 1st DCA 1983); Turner v. Harmon, 438 So. 2d 1030 (Fla. 1st DCA 1983). In the case before us, the deputy related the compression fracture to Hand’s employment without the requisite medical testimony. The award of benefits must therefore be reversed. Of course, the award of costs and attorney’s fee…

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