Brooks, 012318 ARWC, G600605

• Case Date: January 23, 2018
• Court: Arkansas

KARL BROOKS, EMPLOYEE CLAIMANT INFINITY GRAPHICS LLC, EMPLOYER RESPONDENT #1 THE STANDARD FIRE INS. CO., CARRIER RESPONDENT #1 DEATH & PERMANENT TOTAL DISABILITY TRUST FUND RESPONDENT #2 No. G600605 Arkansas Workers Compensation Before the Arkansas Workers' Compensation Commission January 23, 2018           (10/29/2014)          Hearing before ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE ANDREW L. BLOOD, on November 14,2017, at Little Rock, Pulaski County, Arkansas.           Claimant pro se.           Respondents #1 represented by the HONORABLE AMY C. MARKHAM, Attorney-at-Law, Little Rock, Arkansas.           Respondent #2 represented by the HONORABLE DAVID L. PAKE, Attorney-at-Law, Little Rock, Arkansas.           ANDREW L. BLOOD, Chief Administrative Law Judge.          STATEMENT OF THE CASE          A hearing was conducted in the above-styled claim to determine the claimant's entitlement to additional workers' compensation benefits. A prehearing conference was conducted in this claim on October 30, 2017, from which a Prehearing Order of the same date was filed. The Prehearing Order reflects stipulations entered by the parties, the issues to be addressed during the course of the hearing, and the contentions of the parties relative to the afore.          The testimony of Karl Brooks and Dayna Sue Isham. along with medical reports and other documents comprise the record in this claim.          DISCUSSION          Karl Brooks, the claimant, with a date of birth of July 9, 1957, is a 1975 high school graduate. The claimant attended college for IV2 years at Galveston Community College before having to quit and come back to Arkansas. The claimant obtained an Associates Degree in Computer Information Science in 2002. The claimant was previously at the newspapers - the Arkansas Democrat and the Jacksonville Leader. (T. 56-57) The claimant was also employed at Loomis Pipe Testing. (T. 59) The claimant worked at Seahorse Bowl, repairing the machines when they broke. The claimant was employed at Williams Plastics during which time he became a supervisor for over a year, supervising four (4) people.          During his January, 2017, deposition, the claimant testified regarding some of the odd jobs he had, to include five (5) years trapping furs all winter long; working as contractor cleaning up yards and preparing lawns for landscape people; nine (9) years in investment banking talking to bankers, portfolio managers at insurance companies, and as a securities broker. (T. 63-69)          Claimant commenced his employment with respondent-employer on March 31,2014. The claimant offered that he worked at the facility for approximately six (6) months prior to respondent-employer's purchase of the business.          The claimant's job title was that of a sign technician with duties which entailed building and assembling signs. The claimant elaborated on the afore:

Well, we move and handle materials that can be anywhere from just a few ounces up to, you know, 75 pounds or more a piece; some of them are much heavier than that. Install signs, dig holes with post hole diggers, and put signs up, put signs — ladders up side of buildings, you know, and extension ladders and hoist signs up and screw them to the walls; that sort of work.(T. 11-12).

         The claimant's work hours were from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. In describing the mechanics of the October 29, 2014, injury, the testimony of the claimant reflects:

We had been laminating this material call Signabond. It's 4 by 10 sheets. We're making these dry erase boards for the windmill factory.

And we have the big long table we lay them out on. We, you know, put them together, run it through the machine and it laminates the two together, and then, we pull it back out and run it back through again and laminate the actual dry erase material to the top of that. So, it comes out of this machine, we have to pick it up and carry it back over the top of the machine and set it down.

This machine has a couple of big rollers in it that mashes it together and we carry it back over and set it back down on the long table and start the next one and let that kind of set up and dry a little while and we go back and put the plastic trim around it, sort of make it look nice, trim it.

So, we were picking it up. I was on one side and Frank was on the other side of the table and we'd pick it up — I don't know why he, what happened, but he stepped back quickly and I leaned forwards like this, (witness indicating leaning forward with arms extended), trying to keep it — because it's got that metal on there and you don't want to buckle it. I mean, the whole project was just almost complete. There was a lot of money tied up in it at the time and the last thing we need to do is buckle that metal on it and have to start all over.

I'm trying to hold it to make sure it doesn't fall and get messed up and I felt it pop in the bottom of my back, the very bottom. It goes to pop and it hurt and ached and, you know, I mean, I've had back aches before and I just, you know, kind of, generally, you work out of them. If they get to bothering me too bad, I'll lay on the heating pad for a few hours, and you know, everything's okay. I mean, I've always been able to keep working out of them. (T. 12-14)

         The claimant acknowledged having back pain in the past which required medical treatment in the form of steroid injections at L4-L5, in 2010. The claimant denied receiving medical treatment in connection with any back complaints between 2010 and 2014. The claimant testified that he takes natural organic tumeric capsules that he put up himself, noting that he is unable to take medicine.          The testimony of the claimant reflects that he continued to work five (5) to six (6) days following the accident before reporting it to Dayna Sue Isham. The claimant testified that he was sent to Concentra for treatment of his back by the respondent-employer. After a period of treatment at Concentra consisting of physical therapy for several months, he was referred to Dr. Saer. The claimant's testimony reflects that he continued to work during the period that he was under the care of the physicians at Concentra. The testimony of the claimant reflects that he was prescribed Flexeril, a muscle relaxer, by the physicians at Concentra.          The testimony of the claimant reflects that he was placed on restricted duty. The claimant underwent an MRI of his spine as prescribed by Dr. Saer. The claimant testified that later on, he received an injection in the spine at L2-L3. The claimant's testimony reflects:

. Then later on, you know, things just kept going downhill; so he wants to do another injection. You know, get another MRI done or a CT myelogram. I don't know which one it is; it's all here in the Order, but we can get to that. It was, "Do another injection." And the whole time, I'm, continually, going down hill and it's — The meds make me sick. It's a lifelong thing that dates back all the way to when I was four years old. I can't eat food with preservatives in them. I just can't have chemicals. (T. 17)

         The claimant maintains that he was unaware at the time that the medication was causing him any problems. The claimant offered that every time he has been placed on any medication for very long he has ended up in the hospital with diverticulitis or diverticulosis.          The claimant testified that the second injection by Dr. Saer helped relieve his symptoms some. The claimant had a total of three (3) injections, with the last being in October, 2015. The claimant noted that while the injections helped, the relief was not long-lasting. The claimant testified that shortly after the third injection in October, 2015, he ended up in the hospital with blood clots, which started in his leg and went to the groin and both lungs. As to the origin of the blood clots, the claimant offered:

Well, overall my health has been going down hill. I've been loosing [sic] a lot of weight. By the time I got there, I lost 25, 30 pounds. The bulk of that, I lost from August [2015] to the end of October [2015]. (T. 20)

         The claimant testified that in September, 2015, he pleaded with Dr. Saer to place him on medical leave. The claimant continued working light-duty. The claimant offered testimony of his last visit with Dr. Saer and being abandoned in the office after hours. (T. 21-22)          The claimant asserts that on October 27, 2015, he went to the emergency room of UAMS. Regarding the afore, the claimant testified:

I walk in there weighing, like I say, a 135, 140 pounds. They look at the hands on there. I'm

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