July 9, 2013
On May 15, 2011, while employed as an overnight stock leader and supervisor for Weis Markers, Inc, Leon Nolan (name changed for this summary) of Catawissa, PA suffered a work-related injury. This injury occurred when Claimant lowered down pallets from his left side and twisted to his right side in order to set them down. During this twisting motion, he experienced a sharp pain in his lower back. This pain then radiated to his right hip and leg. The injury was originally designated as low back strain on the Notice of Compensation Payable (NCP) issued by the self-insured employer.
Dr. David Ball of Bloomsburg, PA treated Claimant’s work-related injuries, stemming from the twisting at work. Dr. Ball found the injuries to be in the nature of herniated disc pathology at the L3-4 and L4-5 levels. Dr. Ball took claimant off work on July 21, 2011. Dr. Balls also recommended treatment at Geisinger Medical Center and on November 23, 2011, underwent a herniated disc surgery with Dr. Atom Sarkar.
We filed a petition to amend the description of his work-related injury. The defendant argued that Dr. Ball’s testimony was incompetent and that the later herniated disc surgery was not related to the work injury. The Honorable Judge Wayne Rapkin found that Dr. Ball’s testimony was credible because Dr. Ball had a history of the accident, and directly and causally related claimant’s herniated disc to the work injury. The judge also stated that Dr. Ball’s testimony was not only well reasoned but based on numerous factors, including multiple histories taken, physical examinations of Claimant, review of medical records and his over 20 years of practice as an orthopedic surgeon. As a result, Weis Markets had to pay for the surgery and all treatment associated with a herniated disc as opposed to a lumbar strain. This also paved the way for a settlement of future benefits which was obtained shortly after the Judge’s decision expanding the description of injury.
