No. 00720596 (1999). EMPLOYEE: Efrain Rodriguez.

• Case Date: April 01, 1999
• Court: Massachusetts

Massachusetts Workers Compensation 1999. No. 00720596 (1999). EMPLOYEE: Efrain Rodriguez COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS DEPARTMENT OF INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS EMPLOYEE: Efrain Rodriguez EMPLOYER: Western Staff Services INSURER: Travelers Insurance Company (Travelers Property Casualty Corp.)BOARD NO. 00720596REVIEWING BOARD DECISION (Judges Smith, Wilson and McCarthy)APPEARANCES Michael J. Bailey, Esq., for the Employee Lisa M. Carmody, Esq., for the Insurer SMITH, J. The insurer appeals from a decision awarding § 34 total incapacity benefits and § 30 medical benefits. Because the judge failed to adequately define the work injury and separate its impact on the employee's ability to work from the employee's unrelated medical conditions, we cannot determine whether the decision is contrary to law. We therefore find it appropriate to recommit the case for further factual findings on the nature and extent of incapacity caused by the work injury and the medical treatment necessitated thereby. On February 22, 1996, while loading a trailer truck, a large roll of plastic struck Efrain Rodriguez on the head. As he was falling from the impact, Rodriguez tried to hold on to some other rolls. He twisted and felt something happen in the back of his head. His vision became blurry. His supervisor sent him to the Leominster Hospital. (Dec. 5; Tr. 10.) At the emergency room, Rodriguez was given a neck collar and a prescription for Motrin. Dr. Murphy prescribed light work for no more than four hours a day, but there was no light duty available. Rodriguez has not returned to work since the accident. He complains of neck and low back pain, shoulder pain and headaches, numbness and tingling in his extremities, dizziness, decreased vision, and exacerbation of pain with noise. He has been treated by an internist, a chiropractor and a neurologist. He currently takes Tylenol and Elavil medication. (Dec. 6.) Rodriguez filed a claim for § 34 benefits and the matter was conferenced before an administrative judge on August 22, 1996. An order was issued which directed the insurer to pay § 34 compensation in addition to medical benefits. The insurer appealed to a hearing de novo. (Dec. 2.) At the hearing, the insurer conceded that a work injury had occurred but disputed that it caused any medical condition limiting Rodriguez's ability to work. (Dec. 3.) ...