APPEAL
FROM THE ARKANSAS WORKERS' COMPENSATION COMMISSION [NO.
G604793].
The
Law Office of Steven McNeely dba Attorney at Law, by: Steven
R. McNeely, for appellant.
Barber
Law Firm PLLC, by: Karen H. McKinney, for appellees.
MIKE
MURPHY, Judge.
Appellant
Shirley Hines appeals from a decision of the Arkansas
Workers' Compensation Commission (Commission) denying her
temporary total-disability benefits. We affirm.
Hines
has worked for Central Arkansas Transit Authority since 2001.
On June 20, 2016, Hines was driving a bus for her employer
when another vehicle ran a red light and caused a collision
with Hines's bus. The bus's steering wheel did not
have an airbag, and the parties agree that Hines sustained
injuries to her left wrist, ribs, left leg, neck, and back.
On June
21, Hines was seen at CHI St. Vincent. The notes from that
visit provide that
Ms. Hines comes today because on yesterday she was driving
down the street and a car ran a red light and she hit the car
in the side (T-bone), she was going approx. 35 mph, the other
car was speeding. She was the restrained driver of a city bus
(they don't have airbags). The other car's airbags
did deploy. They took her via EMS to the emergency room. She
says her job came and got her from the ER and made her leave
to take a drug test, so she was actually never seen.
She says today, she is mostly hurting along the left side of
her body. She is having some neck pain, B/L shoulder pain,
left knee pain, left foot pain, and left wrist pain. She did
hit the steering wheel with the left knee. For the neck pain,
she says it is aching and radiating down the left arm. She
says she is having some tingling in the left fingers (whole
hand). No numbness or weakness of the [left upper extremity].
She is able to grip as normal.
She was
prescribed prednisone and Flexeril. Hines was then seen at
Concentra Health Centers. Over the next week, Hines went to
Concentra four times. At the first visit, she was restricted
to light-duty work (no bus driving) and prescribed physical
therapy. The notes from her subsequent visits were
substantially the same as those from the first.
On July
5, Hines again went to Concentra. She saw Dr. Carle. Dr.
Carle reported that Hines had some soft-tissue tenderness and
neck pain but that she "moves her neck freely during
conversation and with distracted observation," had a
normal gait with no limping, and had normal reflexes and no
spasms on her spine. An additional note provided,
"Psychiatric: Mood and Affect angry, dysphoric, flat and
irritable." The treatment status was "released from
care," and Dr. Carle reported that Hines could return to
full work and activity. He further provided that
"[t]here are restrictions not related to this injury.
This patient has been evaluated for complaints of discomfort
due to the case date above. There are not objective findings
of an impairment apportioned to the workplace occurrence. . .
. Needs Psych eval before [Department of Transportation]
recertification." An additional report provided that
Hines could return to work on July 5, 2016, with no
restrictions.
On July
8, Hines went back to CHI St. Vincent and saw Dr. William
Joseph. The notes from that visit provide that her range of
motion was normal, and she could touch her toes and walk
normally. She still had some tenderness in her spine, but she
could resume regular work activities effective July 11. Those
notes further provided that she could continue to take the
Flexeril but that she should avoid it when she was driving.
On
August 10, Hines was seen again at Concentra for a Department
of Transportation medical certification and report. The
"driver health history" portion provided that Hines
said that she had headaches, dizziness, neck pain, and back
pain from her motor vehicle accident. The results of that
report disqualified Hines from driving due to dizziness.
At the
workers'-compensation hearing, Hines contended that she
was entitled to temporary total-disability for the eight
weeks she could not work because of the wreck and for
additional medical treatment. The employer controverted the
claim, and the administrative law judge found that Hines was
entitled to temporary total-disability compensation from
August 10 through October 12, 2016. The employer appealed to
the Commission, and the Commission reversed. Hines now
appeals to this court, arguing that the ...