ACCURATE REPORTERS AND FEDERATED INSURANCE COMPANY, APPELLANTS,
v.
TERESA MOORE, APPELLEE
AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.
This case involves an employer and insurance carrier appealing an order awarding an employee medical treatment. The appellate court affirmed the award of massage therapy but reversed and remanded the award for TMJ treatment pending clarification of expert testimony.
The award for massage therapy is affirmed as supported by evidence. The award for TMJ treatment is reversed and remanded because the expert testimony regarding causation was unclear and requires further clarification.
[1] An award of massage therapy is supported by competent substantial evidence, including the testimony of a chiropractor.
[2] A Judge of Compensation Claims' order requiring authorization for specialist evaluation and treatment may be reversed and remanded for further testimony to clarify the ca…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“We find the award of massage therapy is supported by competent substantial evidence, including the testimony of chiropractor Dr. Ciasen, and we affirm that provision in the order.”
Establishes the court's affirmation of the massage therapy award.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceThe claimant sustained a neck injury during an industrial accident. An orthodontist, Dr. Dann, testified that the accident may have exacerbated a pre-…
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PER CURIAM.
Employer/Carrier (E/C) appeal the order of the Judge of Compensation Claims (JCC) requiring them to authorize Claimant to receive an evaluation and follow-up treatment by a specialist in temporoman-dibular joint (TMJ) disease and to have massage therapy. We find the award of massage therapy is supported by competent substantial evidence, including the testimony of chiropractor Dr. Ciasen, and we affirm that provision in the order. See Section 440.13(l)(c), Florida Statutes (1987). Concerning the TMJ treatment award, we find Dr. Dann’s testimony is crucial. It is necessary, however, for us to reverse and remand that portion of the order for the JCC to take further testimony from Dr. Dann for clarification.
The parties stipulated Claimant sustained trauma to the neck in the industrial accident in February 1988, while performing an extended session of court reporting. Dr. Dann, an orthodontist, stated that if the history presented by Claimant was accurate, the “incident just pushed the predisposed condition into exacerbating it.” After reviewing the testimony in context, see H & A Frank’s Constr., Inc. v. Mendoza, 582 So. 2d 780, 781-82 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991), we find it significant that Dr. Dann’s response was based in part on a hypothetical situation. In the order, the JCC stated: “I have relied on the testimony of Dr. Dann to the effect that the accident exacerbated a pre-existing problem, causing it to become symptomatic and in need of treatment.” In response to subsequent questioning, however, Dr. Dann said Claimant had not told him the nature of her neck injury. He conceded that, without knowing the nature of that injury, he could not say whether the neck injury caused the TMJ and other related problems. We find it necessary to reverse and remand for the JCC to permit Dr. Dann to clarify his opinion about the relationship, if any, between the work-related accident and Claimant’s TMJ condition.
AFFIRMED in part, REVERSED and REMANDED in part.
SHIVERS, ZEHMER and KAHN, JJ., concur.
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Citator
Authorities Cited
- H & A Frank's Constr., Inc. v. Mendoza, 582 So. 2d 780 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991)