Claimant is a married resident of Hillsboro, Missouri who began working for Employer in June 1966, and spent nearly his entire career as a Grade II Laborer/Forklift Operator in Employer's commercial refrigeration operation. Most recently he worked on the "less than load" dock where he handled smaller loads for many different customers, including kit parts, and service orders of various shapes, sizes, and weights, varying from a few to several hundred pounds each. He used a forklift to manipulate and move the larger loads, but moved smaller loads by hand.
Claimant testified repeatedly that one could not perform the type of labor he did for over thirty years without having back pain on occasion. In 1992, Claimant complained of back pain and received treatment through the company doctor. He received conservative treatment and was off work approximately six weeks. The conservative treatment resolved Claimant's pain to the back, hip, and top of the thigh. Claimant testified he went to the company doctor and was released, following a physical, to return to work.
In April 2002, Claimant began having sharp, intense pain in his right leg. He had an appointment with his doctor, Dr. Almiron, at the end of April, and received an x-ray of the leg, and physical therapy, but that made him worse. Dr. Almiron referred Claimant to Dr. Padda who provided pain management, an MRI, epidural injections to the back, which helped some, and physical therapy, which aggravated his symptoms. He also received five injections into each knee. Claimant underwent a minimally invasive surgical procedure, which provided some relief. He is still stiff, achy, and hurts all the time. His knees hurt all of the time. Claimant testified that Dr. Padda told him that his back shows evidence of continuous heavy lifting. He claims he did not know his back condition was work related until Dr. Padda told him in 2002. The treatment Claimant underwent consisted of nerve root injections, discogram, and a percutaneous decompression of L3-4 on September 27, 2002.
When his insurance was running out, Claimant questioned how he would obtain future treatment, and Dr. Padda said it should have been handled under workers' compensation all along. Claimant then hired an attorney. Dr. Padda wanted to do another operation, and would not allow Claimant to be released to return to work. Claimant testified he never knew about filing an injury report and he does not remember any information signs regarding workers' compensation posted on Employer's premises. Claimant wants medical treatment and temporary total disability.
On cross-examination, Claimant testified that he has a few head of cattle on a farm, but he has other people to
take care of them. Over the years, he has done some work on a farm but nothing significant. When confronted with documentation of older back injuries in Exhibits 1, 2 and 3, Claimant acknowledged that he had some prior problems with his back and leg that were reported at work. Specifically, in 1998, Claimant acknowledged a report of injury that he made which involved a lower back injury with right leg pain following the lifting of broken parts. On a 1981employment questionnaire, Claimant reported that he had back trouble, but had never had a back injury. In 1992 and 1993, Claimant reported lifting incidents to the nurse with complaints of back pain, and he reported back and right leg pain to Dr. Bailey, who took him off of work for several weeks.
Mike Boone is the manger of Employer's distribution operations, or shipping department, in which Claimant worked throughout most of his career. Mr. Boone confirmed that the size and weight of the boxes Claimant moved in his job varied greatly from very light weights to very heavy, large packages. As a Grade II Laborer/Operator, Claimant drove equipment, but he also lifted heavy weights. Exhibit 5 contains a job summary and analysis of Claimant's job including a listing of the physical requirements of the job. The summary description of Claimant's job is: "Employee's main task is operating the (power industrial) vehicle, not to lift, carry, push or pull. Those activities are varied and intermittent, occurring less than 10 % of the shift." It also indicated fork lift operators such as Claimant never had to lift or carry more than 50 pounds, although they occasionally were called upon to push or pull heavier weights.
Dr. Gurpreet Singh Padda first saw Claimant as a referral from his primary care physician on June 6, 2002. Claimant presented with complaints of chronic intermittent low back pain with an exacerbation several months prior to the referral. The MRI showed degenerative disc disease at L3-4 with cord compression, which was consistent with his symptoms. The successful treatment plan included epidural steroid injections, an EMG, physical therapy, a discogram confirming L3-4 involvement, and ultimately, a closed disc compression or nucleoplasty in September 2002, which resulted in " 100 % resolution of his radicular component low back pain."
Dr. Padda testified that Claimant had