Massey v. Rimsi Corp.

The Freibott Law Firm was recently successful in prosecuting a claim for compensability of the left shoulder on behalf of one of its clients wherein our client injured his neck and low back after slipping down steps at work. A cervical C4-5 discectomy with interbody fusion was performed in July of 2012 and our client continued to have problems with his neck and left shoulder area. An arthroscopic surgery was performed on our client’s left shoulder in January of 2014 and it was the opinion of Claimant’s medical expert, Dr. Evan Crain, that the left shoulder treatment was causally related to the original fall in April of 2012. It was Dr. Crain’s opinion that the 2012 surgery caused a nerve root problem at the C5 level of our client’s neck resulting in the need for left shoulder treatment, including the surgery. The Board found the opinion of the defense expert not to be persuasive. Dr. Piccioni, the defense expert, questioned that a C5 nerve root problem could cause rotator cuff weakness, particularly in light his lack of physical findings during his physical exam. Moreover, Dr. Piccioni very much questioned the credibility of our client and his witnesses. The Board specifically noted that our client and his witness were credible and essentially consistent in their testimonies. The Board held that our client’s shoulder treatment, including surgery, was reasonable, necessary, and related to the original date of injury. The Board also awarded the insurance company to pay for our client’s medical expert witness fee as well as an attorney’s fee. (Massey v. Rimsi Corp.,Hearing No.: 1383032 Date of Decision: September 1, 2016)