August 28, 2016
Karl Langston (name changed for this summary) was injured in the course of his employment in Jim Thorpe, PA. Inservco, the workers’ compensation insurance carrier for the employer, issued a Notice of Compensation Payable (NCP) on February 11, 2015 for Mr. Langston’s January 29, 2015 injury described as a left wrist sprain. Claimant’s benefits were suspended on February 9, 2015 when he returned to work.
We filed a Reinstatement Petition seeking wage loss benefits because Mr. Langston stopped working due to having to undergo surgery for his work injury. We also filed a Review Petition seeking to have the accepted description of injury be amended to include left wrist carpal tunnel syndrome.
The Defendant filed a Termination Petition on October 15, 2015 alleging that Mr. Langston was determined to have been found fully recovered from his work injury.
Mr. Langston testified that he worked as a dump truck operator and that in the winter he was required to constantly hammer frozen cold patch which caused him to experience tingling and electric shocks in his left arm and hand. Dr. Battista, his treating physician, reported that an EMG study taken February 13, 2015 revealed he had left carpal tunnel syndrome. He had to undergo left carpal tunnel decompression on March 12th, 2015 for his work injury and returned to work on March 30, 2015. Dr. Battista reported that his development of carpal tunnel syndrome after twelve years of using vibratory tools and jackhammers came as no surprise.
The IME physician, Dr. Banas, testified that although Mr. Langston did have carpal tunnel syndrome, he did not believe that it was work related. He based his opinions on this because the accident investigation report failed to document that Mr. Langston had numbness in his left hand and because an emergency department treatment reported numbness in his fourth and fifth fingers which was inconsistent with carpal tunnel syndrome. The Judge disagreed with Dr. Banas’ findings and reported that he based his opinions on documentation that was not prepared by Mr. Langston and/or non-medical statements. The Judge also reported that the undisputed EMG study revealed bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome.
The Judge found Mr. Langston to be credible which was also further enhanced by the fact that Dr. Battista had reported that he was eager to return to work as soon as he was able. The Judge found that Dr. Battista was more credible than the IME physician because he began treating Claimant several days after his injury occurred and ultimately also performed his surgery.
The Judge granted Mr. Langston’s Reinstatement Petition for the time periods he missed from work due to his work injury from January 30, 2015 – March 29, 2015 and the continued payment of related medical bills. The Judge granted the Review Petition and Mr. Langston’s accepted description of injury was amended to include left carpal tunnel syndrome, status post left carpal tunnel release. The Judge also dismissed the Defendant’s Termination Petition.
If you have been injured in a work-related accident, you may be entitled to Pennsylvania workers’ comp benefits. Contact an experienced Harrisburg workers’ compensation lawyer at Calhoon and Kaminsky P.C., at 717-695-4722 for more information.
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