Premier Home Health Care Service
No. G1247036
New York Workers Compensation
December 2, 2016
Date
of Accident: 02/08/2015.
District
Office: NYC
Carrier:
Charter Oak Fire Ins Co Carrier ID No.: W054001 Carrier Case
No.: E2L5555
Claimant's Attorney: Bronnberg & Henriquez.
Panel:
Kenneth J. Munnelly.
MANDATORY FULL BOARD REVIEW FULL BOARD MEMORANDUM OF
DECISION
The
Full Board, at its meeting on November 15, 2016, considered
the above captioned case for Mandatory Full Board Review of
the Board Panel Memorandum of Decision filed on May 10, 2016.
ISSUE
The
issue presented for Mandatory Full Board Review is whether
the claimant's disability and need for left shoulder
surgery are causally related.
The
Workers' Compensation Law Judge (WCLJ) found that the
claimant's ongoing disability and need for surgery were
not causally related to her February 8, 2015, work-related
accident.
The
Board Panel majority modified the WCLJ decision, made awards
from February 8, 2015, forward at the temporary total
disability rate and authorized the surgery requested by Dr.
McCulloch.
The
dissenting Board Panel member would find that the
claimant's ongoing disability and need for surgery are
not causally related, and would affirm the WCLJ's
findings.
The
carrier filed an application for Mandatory Full Board Review
on June 9, 2016, asserting that Dr. Killian's opinion
that the rotator cuff tear was caused by claimant's
stroke is more credible than the opinion of claimant's
treating physician that her fall caused the tear.
Claimant
filed a rebuttal on July 9, 2016, requesting that the
decision of the Board Panel majority be upheld.
Upon
review, the Full Board votes to adopt the following findings
and conclusions.
FACTS
Claimant,
a home health aide, filed a C-3 (Employee Claim) on March 15,
2015, alleging that she sustained multiple injuries on
February 8, 2015, when she tripped and fell at work. The
carrier controverted the claim.
The
Board file contains the report of an MRI of claimant's
left shoulder taken on February 28, 2015. The MRI report
indicates that the claimant had a partial tear of the
anterior supraspinatus tendon with tendinosis, mild
tendinosis of the subscapularis with articular sided fraying
of the superior portion, and other findings suggesting
adhesive capsulitis.
In a
March 9, 2015, report, claimant's treating physician, Dr.
McGee, stated that the...
