December 15, 2014
Kyle Kenny was employed as a maintenance supervisor in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (PA). He suffered a work injury to his back when he was moving 4 big and bulky mats that weighed over 100lbs. When he lifted the 4th mat, it jerked him badly. He sat down to take a break and started to feel a little back pain. Shortly after sitting down, his legs began to badly tingle and he was soon unable to move them. His co-workers called an ambulance for him and he was taken to the hospital. Kyle is currently paralyzed from the waist down. His work injury was accepted by Notice of Compensation Payable and his injury was described as “Lumbar Strain”. Often Workers’ Compensation Insurance carriers list a legally accepted injury simply as a “strain”. This is a tactic to minimize what disability and what medical expenses the workers’ comp carrier has to automatically pay.
15 months later, the workers’ compensation insurance company filed a Petition to Review Compensation Benefits claiming that the Paralysis was not the result of a Work Related Injury. Their claim was based on an Independent Medical Examination (IME) by Dr. Katz. This Petition sought to stop all benefits alleging he had recovered from the “strain.” Since he was no longer suffering from a strain, then compensation should be stopped unless he could prove from his motorized wheelchair that the paralysis was due to the injury. Ron Calhoon filed an Answer and the case was assigned to a workers’ compensation judge in Harrisburg, PA.
In support of their Petition, Defendant’s Insurance Carrier presented the testimony by Dr. Katz that injured worker’s Paralysis was not caused by the back injury suffered at work but rather was due to a viral condition that the paralysis would of happened at the very time no matter we he was at. Dr. Katz’s testimony was not found to be credible, competent or persuasive as the treating physicians’ testimony.
In defense of Petition to Review Compensation Benefits, the injured worker and his treating physicians, Drs. Edwards and Dr. Albert Skocik, testified and the Judge found their testimony credible. Dr. Edwards competently and persuasively testified that the small disc herniations shown on MRI were sustained during the work injury, which caused either a vascular tear resulting in hemorrhage or bleeding in the spinal cord with ischemia and a subsequent destruction of the cord; or a release of abnormal molecules from the disc, which triggered an autoimmune response and inflammatory system attack on the spinal cord. Dr. Skocik competently and persuasively testified that Claimant’s herniations noted on MRI were work-related and the cause of Claimant’s paralysis.
The Judge denied Defendant’s Petition to Review Compensation Benefits, finding that Kyle’s Paralysis was from his work injury. The Judge amended the description of injury to include Paralysis, and ordered Defendant to pay workers’ compensation medical benefits relating to Kyle’s Paralysis, the injured worker’s costs of litigation for defending the Petition to Review Compensation Benefits, and the attorney’s fees for unreasonable contest.
