FIRST DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL
STATE OF FLORIDA
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No. 1D17-141
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JOSE LUIS HERNANDEZ,
Appellant,
v.
HIALEAH SOLID WASTE
DEPARTMENT and SEDGWICK
CMS,
Appellees.
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On appeal from an order of the Judge of Compensation Claims.
Edward Almeyda, Judge.
Date of Accident: March 10, 2015.
February 20, 2018
PER CURIAM.
Jose Luis Hernandez, a workers’ compensation claimant, was
prescribed certain spinal-injection treatments. His employer
authorized the treatment, but insisted that another physician—
not Hernandez’s treating physician—perform them. The Judge of
Compensation Claims sided with the employer, and Hernandez
appeals.
Section 440.13(2)(d) allows the employer “to transfer the care
of an injured employee from the attending health care provider if
an independent medical examination determines that the
employee is not making appropriate progress in recuperation.”
Here, the employer did not satisfy the statute’s requirements.
Instead, the employer refused to allow Hernandez’s authorized
physician to perform authorized treatments, a refusal
“amount[ing] to a de facto deauthorization of the doctor.” Williams
v. Triple J Enters.,
650 So. 2d 1114, 1116 (Fla. 1st DCA 1995).
REVERSED and REMANDED for further proceedings.
B.L. THOMAS, C.J., and OSTERHAUS and WINSOR, JJ., concur.
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Not final until disposition of any timely and
authorized motion under Fla. R. App. P. 9.330 or
9.331.
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Mark L. Zientz of Law Offices of Mark L. Zientz, P.A., Miami, for
Appellant.
Eduardo E. Neret of Neret, Finlay & Nguyen, LLP, Miami, for
Appellees.
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