Kittila v. Petro Holdings, Inc., 052620 RIWC, 2016-00869

Case DateMay 26, 2020
CourtRhode Island
WILLIAM W. KITTILA
v.
PETRO HOLDINGS, INC.
W.C.C. No. 2016-00869
Rhode Island Worker Compensation
State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations Providence
May 26, 2020
         FINAL DECREE OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION          This matter came on to be heard by the Appellate Division upon the claim of appeal of the petitioner/employee and upon consideration thereof, the employee's appeal is denied and dismissed, and it is          ORDERED, ADJUDGED, AND DECREED:          That the findings of fact and the orders contained in a decree of this Court entered on May 4,2017 be, and they hereby are, affirmed.          PER ORDER:          Nicholas DiFilippo, Administrator          PROPOSED FINAL DECREE OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION          This matter came on to be heard by the Appellate Division upon the claim of appeal of the petitioner/employee and upon consideration thereof, the employee's appeal is denied and dismissed, and it is          ORDERED, ADJUDGED, AND DECREED:          That the findings of fact and the orders contained in a decree of this Court entered on May 4,2017 be, and they hereby are, affirmed.          DECISION OP THE APPELLATE DIVISION           OLSSON, J.          This matter is before the Appellate Division on the employee's appeal from a decision and decree of the trial judge denying the employee's petition to review seeking to amend the description of his work-related occupational disease to include "bilateral ulnar neuropathy."[1] After a thorough review of the record and consideration of the arguments presented by both parties, we find that the trial judge did not commit error by accepting Dr. Arnold-Peter C. Weiss's opinion as more persuasive than the testimony of the employee's physicians and finding that the employee did not suffer from bilateral ulnar neuropathy, We, therefore, deny the employee's appeal and affirm the decision and decree of the trial judge.          On November 10, 2014, William W. Kittila (the employee) filed an original petition, W.C.C. No. 2014-06679, alleging he sustained work-related injuries on August 4, 2014 to both hands, both elbows, and his left middle finger resulting in disability beginning August 8, 2014 and continurng. The description of the alleged injury in the petition was amended on February 24, 2015 to read "bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome, left middle finger trigger finger," and a pretrial order was entered on that date granting the petition as amended and awarding partial incapacity benefits from August 8, 2014 -and continuing. The employer claimed a trial from that order. On August 7, 2015, the trial judge entered a decree in W.C.C. No, 2014-06679 finding that the employee developed a work-related occupational disease described as "bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome and a left middle finger trigger finger," which resulted in partial incapacity from August 8, 2014 and continuing. The trial judge in that matter also determined that the employee's personal medical profile, specifically the employee's diabetes, contributed twenty percent (20%) to his disablement and his weekly benefits were reduced accordingly.          On February 12, 2016, the employee filed this petition to review alleging that the decree entered in W.C.C. No. 2014-06679 does not accurately state all of the employee's injuries which should be described as "bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome, a left middle finger trigger finger and bilateral ulnar neuropathy." The petition was denied at the pretrial conference and the employee filed a timely claim for trial.          The employee testified that in 2014 he noticed symptoms in his hands while working as a service technician repairing, cleaning, and installing boilers and hot water tanks for Petro Holdings, Inc., (the employer), a heating oil and home comfort services provider. Initially, he experienced weakness in his hands while working. He then developed pain and numbness in his hands at night which made it difficult to sleep. These symptoms worsened over time and progressed to his elbows. His left middle finger began to lock as well. The nurse practitioner in his primary care physician's office referred him to Dr. Leonard F. Hubbard, an orthopedic surgeon specializing in hand surgery.          The employee left .work on August 8, 2014, and Dr. Hubbard performed surgery on his left middle finger, wrist, and elbow in May 2015, and on his right wrist and elbow in July 2015. The employee's symptoms improved following the operations and on August 3,2015, he returned to Ms regular job with the same employer. In explaining the current condition of his hands and elbows, the employee stated that "[t]hey are better than what they were, but it depends on what I do.... When I get home, they sometimes - sometimes they don't hurt; a lot of times they do still." Tr. 15:25-16:3. He takes Tramadol at night when his hands and elbows bother him.          The employee acknowledged that he was diagnosed with non-insulin dependent Type 2 diabetes by. Dr. Robert J. Dobr2ynski, Jr., an endocrinologist who prescribes medication to treat the employee's diabetes and neuropathy in his feet. The employee added that he has had heart surgery to implant two (2) stents and also aortic femoral bypass surgery. His past medical history also includes prior right elbow surgery in 2006. In addition, he smoked cigarettes for forty (40) years before stopping in 2012.          The medical evidence consists of the depositions and records of Drs. Leonard F. Hubbard, Joseph B. Fitzgerald, Robert J. Dobrzynski, and Arnold-Peter C, Weiss. Dr. Hubbard first examined the employee on June 25, 2014 for complaints of numbness and tingling in both hands and triggering of the left middle...

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