ANTONE KOULIAS, APPELLANT,
v.
TARPON MARINE WAYS, APPELLEE
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Koulias appealed a workers' compensation decision denying benefits for a heart attack and shoulder injury sustained at work. The court affirmed the finding that the heart attack was non-compensable but reversed the dismissal of the shoulder injury claim, holding that a claimant may recover benefits for a compensable injury even if a subsequent non-compensable injury causes total disability.
The court affirmed the finding that the heart attack was non-compensable based on substantial evidence supporting the deputy's credibility determination regarding medical testimony. However, the court reversed the outright denial of the shoulder injury claim, holding that a claimant may recover disability and medical benefits for a compensable injury separate from a subsequent non-compensable injury that causes total disability.
[1] A deputy commissioner has the discretion to accept the testimony of one physician over others when resolving conflicting medical evidence.
[2] The weight given to a treating physician's opinion may be lessened if they assumed care long after the injury occurred.
Previewing 2 of 6 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“it was error for the deputy commissioner to dismiss Koulias' claim relative to his compensable shoulder injury based solely on the permanent total disability suffered from the noncompensable heart attack”
Establishes the core holding that a compensable injury cannot be denied merely because a subsequent non-compensable injury causes total disability
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceKoulias, a boat carpenter, received an electric shock from a sander, lost his balance, and wrenched his right shoulder. At least 48 hours later, he su…
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JOANOS, Judge.
Antone Koulias has appealed from an order of the deputy commissioner holding that his heart attack was noncompensable and denying his claim for benefits with regard to a shoulder injury. We affirm in part and reverse in part.
Koulias was employed by Tarpon Marine Ways (Tarpon) as a boat carpenter when he received an electric shock from a sander he was operating. The shock caused him to lose his balance and he wrenched his right shoulder catching himself to prevent a fall. At least 48 hours after receiving the shock, Koulias suffered a heart attack, from which it is undisputed he is now permanently disabled. Koulias subsequently filed a claim for wage loss and/or permanent total disability benefits with regard to both the heart attack and the right shoulder injury. Following a hearing at which conflicting medical opinions as to causation were expressed, the deputy found that the electric shock had no causal relationship to Koulias’ heart attack. He also dismissed Koulias’ claim with regard to the shoulder injury in that “[h]is inability to get out and find work is because he is permanently and totally disabled from his unrelated heart condition.”
Koulias has argued first that the deputy erred in determining the causation issue based on his acceptance of the opinion of a doctor who examined Koulias only once over the opinion of Koulias’ treating physician. It is the deputy commissioner’s function to determine credibility and resolve conflicts in the evidence, and he may accept the testimony of one physician over several others. The acceptance and rejection of medical testimony rests with the deputy, and his discretion should not be disturbed unless the medical testimony itself fails to meet the test of the substantial evidence rule. Griffith v. McDonalds, 526 So. 2d 1032, 1033 (Fla. 1st DCA 1988).
In this case, the medical opinion relied on by the deputy was based on objective testing as well as on the doctor’s experience and observation. We also note that Koulias’ treating physician did not treat him at the time of the heart attack, but assumed his care at least six months later.
Therefore, any additional weight to which his opinion as to causation might be entitled was lessened. We further find that the deputy sufficiently explained his acceptance of one medical opinion over another and that Kou-lias’ argument on that point is also without merit.
However, it was error for the deputy commissioner to dismiss Koulias’ claim relative to his compensable shoulder injury based solely on the permanent total disability suffered from the noncompensable heart attack. While disability resulting solely from a second, noncompensable accident is not compensable, if on the date of the noncompensable accident the claimant is still suffering from the effects of the first, compensable accident, it does not follow that he is entitled to no compensation. McPherson v. Broward County School Board, 527 So. 2d 238, 239 (Fla. 1st DCA 1988).
Benefits may be awarded for either disability or medical care which is .causally related to the compensable accident and injury in the absence of the second, non-compensable accident, and should include all medical care necessary for treatment of the compensable injury. Newhouse v. Volusia County School Board, 474 So. 2d 1222 (Fla. 1st DCA 1985).
In this case, no findings were made with regard to Koulias’ entitlement to disability or medical care relative to the shoulder injury as a separate entity from the non-compensable heart condition. We therefore reverse the deputy’s outright denial of the claim fo'r that injury and remand for additional findings on the disability and medical care which is causally related to the compensable injury.
BOOTH and MINER, JJ., concur.
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Zephaniah Meek v. Layne-Western Co. & Crawford & Co., 566 So. 2d 31 (Fla. 1st DCA 1990)…m-pensable accident at the time that he suffers a second, noncompensable accident, the second accident acts as a bar only as to those claims which would not have occurred in the absence of the noncompensa-ble accident. Koulias v. Tarpon Marine Ways, 538 So. 2d 130 (Fla. 1st DCA 1989); Parish v. Baptist Hospital, 512 So. 2d 1031 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987).3 Accordingly, the [*33] judge erred in treating the second hand injury as a superseding cause on the ground that the latter accident was the most likely cause of t…
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Curtis v. Bordo Citrus Prods. & Liberty Mut. Ins. Co., 566 So. 2d 328 (Fla. 1st DCA 1990)…sable cause is not compensable, if on the date of the noncompensable event the claimant is still suffering from the effects of the first, compensable accident, it does not follow that he is entitled to no compensation. Koulias v. Tarpon Marine Ways, 538 So. 2d 130 (Fla. 1st DCA 1989). The occurrence of the second accident or condition, while disability from the compensable accident continues, does not break the causal chain for all.claims, but only those attributed to the later noncompensable condition. [*330…
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Styles v. Broward Cnty. Sch. Bd. & Gallagher Bassett Servs., 831 So. 2d 212 (Fla. 1st DCA 2002)…le. See, e.g., Curtis v. Bordo Citrus Prods., 566 So. 2d 328, 330 (Fla. 1st DCA 1990) (“Benefits may be awarded for either disability or medical care which is causally related to the compensable accident and injury.”); Koulias v. Tarpon Marine Ways, 538 So. 2d 130, 132 (Fla. 1st DCA 1989) (same). Observing that “no section of chapter 440 deals directly with computation of PTD benefits when two compensable accidents have contributed to the claimant’s PTD condition,” Pinellas County Sch. Bd. v. Higgins, 597 So…
Previewing 3 of 12 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Newhouse v. Volusia Cnty. Sch. Bd. & Peninsular Fire Ins. Co., 474 So. 2d 1222 (Fla. 1st DCA 1985)
- Griffith v. McDONALDS & Kemper Grp., 526 So. 2d 1032 (Fla. 1st DCA 1988)
- Martin Marietta Corp. & Scott Wetzel Servs., Inc. v. Stewart, 527 So. 2d 238 (Fla. 1st DCA 1988)