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CARROLL GENERAL HOSPITAL v. GREEN6/19/1996
Carroll General Hospital appeals from a decision of the Arkansas Workers' Compensation Commission which found that the compensation benefits payable to appellee as a result of a hernia operation were not limited to twenty-six weeks as provided in the "hernia statute," Ark. Code Ann. § 11-9-523(b)(1) (Repl. 1996), and which found that appellee was entitled to additional temporary total disability benefits. Appellant argues that the Commission's failure to apply the limitation in § 11-9-523 is erroneous as a matter of law and that the award of additional benefits is not supported by substantial evidence. We find no error and affirm.
Appellee suffered a compensable bilateral inguinal hernia, which was surgically repaired by Dr. W. K. Flake on June 30, 1992. Dr. Flake released appellee to return to work without restriction on August 25, 1992. After working for five months, appellee began to have pain in his right groin. Dr. Flake stated that appellee's discomfort was due to a nerve that became entrapped during appellee's hernia surgery. When conservative measures did not relieve appellant's problems, Dr. Flake referred him to Dr. C. R. Magness. Appellant was also evaluated by Dr. E. Stahl. Dr. Stahl referred appellant to Dr. John F. Eidt at UAMS. Appellee was seen by other doctors who agreed with Dr. Flake's conclusions. On August 13, 1993, Dr. Eidt surgically repaired the entrapped nerve. Appellee then sought additional temporary total disability from August 20, 1993.
Compensation for hernia injuries may not exceed a period of twenty-six weeks. Ark. Code Ann. § 11-9-523(b)(1) (Repl. 1996). Appellant argues that the statute is applicable because appellee's entrapped nerve is related to his hernia and that there is no statutory provision for additional benefits for disability resulting from a hernia surgery. The Commission, in finding that the hernia statute was not applicable, stated that appellee's disability resulted from the hernia surgery and was "separate and distinct from the hernia." It held that
a disability resulting from "complications which are a consequence of the occurrence of the hernia but which are separate and distinct from the hernia itself" are not limited to a twenty-six week period as provided in § 11-9-523(b)(1).
The Arkansas Supreme Court has held that a severe or "slow to heal" hernia does not entitle a claimant to compensation benefits beyond the twenty-six week limitation. Jobe v. Capitol Products Corp., 230 Ark. 1, 320 S.W.2d 634 (1959). However, if the hernia results in "complications," compensation beyond the twenty-six week limitation may be received. In Jobe, the court quoted the Commission, which held: "By `complications' we mean infection, or damage to bodily organs or structures separated (sic) and distinct from the hernia itself. . ." Id., 230 Ark. at 2.
Appellant urges us to reverse the Commission's decision based on our ruling in Tibbs v. Dixie Bearings, Inc., 9 Ark. App. 150, 654 S.W.2d 588 (1983). There, the claimant required an additional surgery to remove silk sutures used in the surgery to repair his hernia. Because of the claimant's allergic reaction to the sutures which caused stitch infections, his hernia injury was slow to heal. We held that Tibbs was indistinguishable from Jobe and limited compensation to the twenty-six week period as provided in the hernia statute. We did so based in part on the medical evidence which did not reveal that the claimant's failure to heal promptly, because of complications from the hernia surgery, caused him to suffer "any greater disability than any other person sustaining a severe hernia injury," and that the claimant failed to prove any disability "separate and distinct from the
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