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Excelsior Hotel v. Squires9/28/2005
Appellants, Excelsior Hotel and Twin City Fire Insurance Company, appeal from the Arkansas Workers' Compensation Commission's finding that appellee, Larry Squires, sustained a permanent anatomical impairment of thirty percent to the body as a whole. Appellants argue on appeal that there was not substantial evidence that appellee developed a permanent lung condition as a result of a work-related injury. We affirm.
Appellee fractured ribs on his left side when he fell from a ladder and landed on a five-gallon bucket. The parties stipulated that on March 25, 1998, during his employment with appellant Excelsior Hotel, appellee sustained compensable injuries to his left shoulder and ribs. The parties, however, litigated whether appellee sustained a compensable lung injury.
According to the medical records, appellee was seen on March 30, 1998, by Dr. Thomas Hart, who reported that appellee was "having congestion and difficulty breathing because of splinting secondary to severe pain." Dr. Hart noted that appellee had "audible congestion in the lungs" and was taking "very short shallow breaths." He further noted "some decreased breath sounds on the left side due to poor inspiratory and expiratory effort." He also observed that the " ight appeared to be pretty clear." In an emergency-room record dated April 20, 1998, it was noted that appellee "still had some inspiratory crackles in his left base." On April 23, 1998, Dr. Jack A. Griebel, Jr., a pulmonologist, noted that a chest x-ray showed a large pleural effusion filling approximately one-third of the left chest. He further observed associated dyspnea. A thoracentesis was performed that day. On May 8, 1998, Dr. Griebel noted that appellee continued to "have some limitation of breathing and shortness of breath...." A radiological-examination report dated May 12, 1998, showed a persistent moderate left pleural effusion and a normal right chest. Records from July 8, 1998, again described a left-sided pleural effusion filling approximately one-third of the left chest, and thoracentesis was recommended.
On May 12, 1999, Dr. Griebel opined that appellee had " eactive airway disease syndrome, asthma secondary to pulmonary contusion syndrome as suffered from fall with multiple rib fractures." In a letter dated January 8, 2001, Dr. Griebel noted that appellee had developed a left pleural effusion that was drained and had suffered extensive left-chest fractures. He further noted that appellee "has continued to manifest significant shortness of breath and had a reactive airway, almost asthma-like, condition since his fall." He opined that appellee "has significant obstructive airway defect abnormalities on his pulmonary function testing, as documented on the values of November 18, 1999, with an FEV1 of 2.13, 53% of predicted." He also thought appellee "has some limitation of his lung capacity secondary to pleural thickening and scarring from the severe rib fractures." He further noted that appellee was asymptomatic prior to the injury and symptomatic after the injury, that appellee had shown no evidence of reversal, and that appellee would have "some problem requiring medication and treatment of this for a prolonged period of time." Based on his pulmonary-function test, Dr. Griebel concluded that, by American Medical Association criteria, appellee had a permanent impairment of thirty percent to the body as a whole. In his deposition testimony, Dr. Griebel stated that appellee's reactive airway disease was secondary to the injury he received and that he was "primarily looking at the reactive airway disease." He further agreed that the impairment rating was the result of the injury appellee sustained.
In challenging the Commissio
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