ALCOMA PACKING COMPANY, EXECUTIVE RISK CONSULTANTS, APPELLANTS,
v.
WILLIAM JONES, APPELLEE
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An employer and workers' compensation carrier appealed an order requiring them to pay for past chiropractic services and authorizing future chiropractic treatment for an injured employee. The court reversed the award for past services, finding the employer and carrier did not deny treatment or fail to offer alternatives because the claimant's request for chiropractic care was not timely communicated.
The employer and carrier met their statutory obligation under section 440.13(2) by supplying claimant with names of authorized chiropractors once they received notice in September 1989 that he desired chiropractic treatment. The award for past chiropractic services was reversed because there was no record basis showing the employer and carrier denied the treatment or failed to timely offer alternatives.
[1] An employer and carrier meet their statutory obligation to provide claimant with requested treatment by supplying the names of authorized providers when the claimant expr…
[2] An employer and carrier are not liable for past medical services when they did not deny the requested treatment and timely offer alternative care.
Previewing 2 of 4 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“We find no record basis to support the conclusion that the employer and carrier, when claimant's desire for the treatment was made known, denied the requested treatment and failed to make a timely offer of alternative chiropractic care.”
Establishes the core issue: whether the employer and carrier improperly denied or delayed the authorization of chiropractic treatment.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceClaimant sustained a compensable ankle injury in 1988 when he stepped backward to avoid a snake. He initially received treatment at a walk-in clinic b…
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WENTWORTH, Judge.
The employer and carrier seek review of an order that directs the employer and carrier to pay for past chiropractic services rendered to claimant, and that authorizes the chiropractor who has been rendering these services to continue to provide them in the future. We find no record basis to support the conclusion that the employer and carrier, when claimant’s desire for the treatment was made known, denied the requested treatment and failed to make a timely offer of alternative chiropractic care. Therefore, we reverse the award for past services provided by Dr. H.G. Smith. This determination, of course, has no bearing on the authorization of this chiropractor to render further services to claimant. We also reverse the award of an attorney’s fee insofar as related to the cost of past chiropractic service, and remand for reconsideration of this issue.
Claimant sustained a compensable injury in 1988 when he stepped backwards and twisted his ankle in order to avoid a snake. He testified that he first obtained treatment for his injury at a walk-in clinic where he was given pain medication. Claimant later became dissatisfied with this treatment and discussed it with his supervisor. Although claimant at that time requested authorization for treatment by a “Dr. Smith,” the record before us contains nothing to indicate that the doctor’s medical specialty should have been known, and fails to support the assertion on appeal that in addition to naming the doctor he wished to see claimant also specified that it was chiropractic treatment that he was seeking. Accordingly, at that point the employer and carrier did not provide him with the names of alternative chiropractors from whom he could obtain treatment.
The subsequent claim for benefits by claimant’s attorney did not serve to notify the employer and carrier of claimant’s desire for chiropractic treatment, merely seeking authorization for the otherwise unidentified “Dr. H.G. Smith.” So far as reflected by the record, only when the carrier received a letter from claimant’s, attorney in September 1989 was it on notice that claimant desired chiropractic treatment. Claimant’s attorney was supplied the names of four alternative chiropractors authorized to provide claimant with care.
Under the circumstances, the employer and carrier met their obligation under section 440.13(2) to provide claimant with the treatment when he requested it by supplying to him the names of authorized chiropractors.
Reversed and remanded.
JOANOS and ALLEN, JJ., concur.
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Marbury v. Holiday INN, 660 So. 2d 799 (Fla. 1st DCA 1995)…y limitation of income. Specifically, the voluntary limitation of income defense was never raised properly by the employer/carrier, and thus the JCC should not have made a finding in reliance upon this defense. See Scherreiks v. A & B Roofing, Inc., 571 So. 2d 73 (Fla. 1st DCA 1990) (although record might contain competent substantial evidence for a finding of voluntary limitation of income, such was not raised as a defense by the employer/carrier). On the question of the adequacy of claimant’s job search,…
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Jairo Cardona v. Commercial Bldg. Maint., Inc., 626 So. 2d 335 (Fla. 1st DCA 1993)…n benefits to the claimant. The JCC’s denial of attorney’s fees under section 440.-34(3)(b), Florida Statutes (1989), in my opinion, was error. See, Nieves v. Dade County School Board, 583 So. 2d 697 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991); Alcoma Packing Co. v. Jones, 571 So. 2d 73 (Fla. 1st DCA 1990); Wiseman v. AT & T Technologies, Inc., 569 So. 2d 508 (Fla. 1st DCA 1990); Jackson v. Dade County School Board, 484 So. 2d 1290 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986). I would therefore reverse the denial of attorney’s fees.…