18-12WC. Beth Holmes v. State of Vermont.

• Court: Vermont

Vermont Workers Compensation 2012. 18-12WC. Beth Holmes v. State of Vermont Beth Holmes v. State of Vermont(June 21, 2012)STATE OF VERMONT DEPARTMENT OF LABORBeth Holmes v. State of VermontOpinion No. 18-12WCBy: Phyllis Phillips, Esq. Hearing Officer For: Anne M. Noonan CommissionerState File No. AA-00186OPINION AND ORDERHearing held in Montpelier on April 9, 2012 Record closed on April 24, 2012APPEARANCES:Beth Holmes, pro seWilliam Blake, Esq., for Defendant ISSUES PRESENTED:

1. Has Claimant reached an end medical result for her compensable July 2008 work injury and if so, when did this occur?

2. Are Claimant's cervical spine complaints causally related to her compensable July 2008 work injury and if so, to what workers' compensation benefits is she entitled?

3. Did Claimant willfully make a false statement or representation for the purpose of obtaining a workers' compensation benefit, in violation of 21 V.S.A. §708(a)?

EXHIBITS: Joint Exhibit I: Medical records Defendant's Exhibit A: Curriculum vitae, Nancy Binter, M.D. Defendant's Exhibit B: Curriculum vitae, Richard Levy, M.D. Defendant's Exhibit C: Curriculum vitae, William Boucher, M.D. Defendant's Exhibit D: Independent Medical Evaluation Questionnaire Defendant's Exhibit E: Surveillance videos (2 DVDs) Defendant's Exhibit F: Deposition of Beth Holmes, February 3, 2010 (excerpted pages) CLAIM: Temporary total disability benefits pursuant to 21 V.S.A. §642 Medical benefits pursuant to 21 V.S.A. §640(a) FINDINGS OF FACT: 1. At all times relevant to these proceedings, Claimant was an employee and Defendant was her employer as those terms are defined in Vermont's Workers' Compensation Act. 2. Judicial notice is taken of all relevant forms contained in the Department's files relating to this claim. 3. Claimant worked as a licensed practical nurse at Defendant's Vermont Veterans' Home. Her responsibilities included administering medications and other general duties. 4. On July 11, 2008 Claimant slipped and fell down the last two stairs of a stairway at work. As reflected in the contemporaneous medical records, Claimant reported that she grabbed the banister with her right hand and struck her left buttock and lower back on the stairs. She did not report striking her neck in the fall, nor did she report any complaints or injury referable to that area. To the contrary, she complained solely of low back pain, which her primary care physician, Dr. Friscia, diagnosed as a left buttock contusion. As treatment, Dr. Friscia prescribed narcotic pain medications and physical therapy. 5. Over the course of the next three months, Claimant began complaining of more diffuse aches, not just in her lower back but also in her hips, groin, upper back, elbows and shoulders. Concerned about her ongoing symptoms, particularly in the context of continued narcotic pain medications and physical therapy, Dr. Friscia referred her to Dr. Robbins, an orthopedic surgeon, for further consultation. 6. Claimant previously had treated with Dr. Robbins in September 2000, for a two-month history of neck pain with radicular-type symptoms in her right arm. Claimant underwent little if any treatment for these complaints, which she described at hearing as a "horrible" stiff neck and which Dr. Robbins diagnosed as C6 radiculopathy.(fn1) Apparently her symptoms resolved on their own. In the intervening years leading up to her July 2008 fall at work, Claimant did not seek medical treatment for any further cervical spine-related complaints. 7. Dr. Robbins evaluated Claimant on October 27, 2008. During that evaluation, for the first time Claimant complained of neck pain in addition to her other symptoms, reporting that she felt her...