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Cajun Welding & Machine Co. v. Deville11/5/2003
PUBLISHED
AFFIRMED.
In this workers' compensation matter, the employer and its insurer filed a disputed claim, contesting the necessity of a motorized scooter as palliative treatment for an employee injured in the course and scope of his employment. The workers' compensation judge determined that the scooter was a medical necessity to which the employee-claimant was entitled. The employer and its insurer filed the instant appeal. For the following reasons, we affirm.
Factual and Procedural Background
The claimant, Travis Deville, asserts that on February 25, 1999, he sustained an injury to his back while working as a machinist at Cajun Welding and Machine Company. According to his testimony in the disputed-claim hearing on the matter, Mr. Deville and a co-worker were attempting to move a large compressor when it started to fall. Mr. Deville explained that he tried to break its fall, but the compressor brought him to the ground, leaving him in a bent position. This accident resulted in severe and debilitating injuries to his lumbar spine that required two surgeries: first, a discectomy at L4-L5 and L5-S1, and later, a laminectomy, decompression, and forinatomy with a repeat discectomy and posterior lumbar spinal fusion with pedical screws and a plate, likewise at L4-L5 and L5-S1. Mr. Deville's testimony in this matter reflects that he has experienced substantially decreased mobility and pain after the accident and the two surgical procedures. He has been limited to sedentary activities and has not been able to return to work. Although Mr. Deville stated that he can now walk around his house and yard, the record shows that his treating orthopedist, Dr. Steven Nason, recommended to the Office of Workers' Compensation that he receive a motorized scooter that would help him navigate through public places and assist in his social interaction with others.
In November, 2002, shortly after the Louisiana Office of Workers' Compensation director recommended that Mr. Deville receive the scooter, Cajun Welding's insurer, Louisiana Insurance Guaranty Association (LIGA), filed a disputed claim for compensation. In its claim, LIGA contended that the state-appointed independent medical examiner in the matter had failed to establish the medical necessity of such a scooter.
A rule was held in the matter in February, 2003, in the Office of Workers' Compensation in Alexandria. In support of their appeal, LIGA and Cajun Welding produced letters written by Dr. G. Gregory Gidman, a Lafayette orthopedist, to whom LIGA and Cajun Welding had referred Mr. Deville for a second opinion as to the necessity of a motorized scooter. In his letter to LIGA and the Office of Workers' Compensation, Dr. Gidman opined that the motorized scooter was not necessary because Mr. Deville had not suffered severe neurological impairment of his lower extremities; instead, Dr. Gidman recommended the use of a manual wheelchair when needed. In addition, Cajun Welding and LIGA introduced the deposition of the state-appointed independent medical examiner, Dr. Thad Broussard, a Baton Rouge orthopedist, in which Dr. Broussard opined that the scooter was not medically necessary. The workers' compensation judge, however, determined that the motorized scooter was a medical necessity for Mr. Deville, and he ordered LIGA and Cajun Welding to furnish him with one.
Cajun Welding and LIGA have appealed the ruling, asserting that the workers' compensation judge committed manifest error in determining that the motorized scooter is a medical necessity.
Discussion
Cajun Welding and LIGA contend that the workers' compensation judge committed manifest error in hi
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