Rothbaum, 110518 ARWC, G009822

• Case Date: November 05, 2018
• Court: Arkansas

STEPHANIE ROTHBAUM, EMPLOYEE CLAIMANT LOWES HOME CENTER, LLC., SELF-INSURED EMPLOYER RESPONDENT SEDGWICK CLAIMS MANAGEMENT SERVICES, TPA RESPONDENT Claim No. G009822 Arkansas Workers Compensation Before The Arkansas Workers' Compensation Commission November 5, 2018           (1/25/2010)          Hearing before CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE ANDREW L. BLOOD, on August 31, 2018, at Luxora, Mississippi County, Arkansas.          Claimant appeared pro se.           Respondent represented by the HONORABLE BRANDON T. COLE, Attorney-at-Law, Little Rock, Arkansas.           ANDREW L. BLOOD, CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE          STATEMENT OF THE CASE          A hearing was conducted in the above style claim to determine the claimant’s entitlement to additional workers’ compensation benefits. On July 16, 2018, a prehearing conference was conducted in the claim, from which a Prehearing Order of the same date was generated. 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 same. The Prehearing Order is herein designated a part of the record as “Commission Exhibit #1.” The respondent asserts that the March 12, 2017, treatment that the claimant received was not medical treatment, but rather replacement medicine.          The testimony of Stephanie Rothbaum, coupled with medical reports and other documents comprise the record in this claim.          DISCUSSION          Stephanie Rothbaum, the claimant, with a date of birth of March 7, 1969, and a ninth grade education, commenced her employment with respondent in August, 2008. The parties stipulated that the claimant suffered a injury to her right knee on January 25, 2010, which was accepted as compensable and for which compensation benefits were paid, to include temporary total, permanent partial, and medical. The claimant has undergone surgery on the right knee relative to the compensable injury. The claimant was discharging the job duties of a Receiver/Stocker at the time of her January 25, 2010, compensable right knee injury. Presently she is employed as a Pro-Server Facilitator.          The testimony of the claimant reflects that her primary treating physician relative to the compensable injury was Dr. Micek, who performed the surgery. The claimant noted that when Dr. Micek left, she commenced treating with Dr. Ana Palmieri, both of whom were located at Collierville Orthopedic. As to the last time she was Dr. Palmieri, the claimant testified:

I may – I had to go through my insurance in August [2017], when I found out that workers’ comp would not pay for it at all. It was to the point that it didn’t matter if they did or not. I had to go. (Tr.p. 10)

         The testimony of the claimant reflects that on March 12, 2017, she was seen by Dr. Palmieri and received an injection in the right knee, continuing:

Because of the inflammation, the bursitis of the – that had developed throughout the led from the knee. (Tr.p. 11)

         The respondent paid for the claimant’s March 12, 2017, treatment on June 21, 2017.          The claimant testified that she needed further medical treatment relative to her right knee after March 12, 2017, explaining:

And when it flares up, it gets to the point that it's so bad that I can't walk on it.

You know, I'm more walking on my left leg, because of the pain that goes along with the flare-ups. (Tr.p. 12)

         As to when she first required medical treatment following the March 12, 2107, treatment, the claimant testified:

Sir, I would always – we kept it at six months. I always went to see the doctor every six months, because we kept an eye on the knee and the leg. (Tr.p. 13)

         The claimant’s testimony reflects that in August 2017, she tried to schedule an appointment, and received a call back from the doctor’s office:

I'm sorry. The doctor's office, her nurse, I think, her name was Dee Dee, called me back and she had found out – she had informed me that my case had been closed July of the previous year, and within – after finding out about that, a week after that, I had received a letter in the mail with that statement that my case had been closed. (Tr.p. 13)

         The claimant testified that at the time of the March 12, 2017, visit, to the doctor she did not schedule the next appointment, but rather was “like an as-needed basis”. The testimony of the claimant reflects that she informed the nurse at the time of the “call back” that she needed to see the doctor.          The claimant testified that after being notified by personnel at her doctor’s office that an appointment could not be scheduled because her clam was closed, she received a letter from respondent in a envelope posted August 12, 2017, informing her that her claim had been closed. After receipt of the letter, the claimant testified that she contacted her HR, Jeff Marace, who relayed that he had no idea. The claimant’s testimony reflects, regarding the developments thereafter:

They all – that's when I started getting communication from

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