Florida District Courts of Appeal, 2018

Hernandez v. Hialeah Solid Waste Dep't

Hernandez v. Hialeah Solid Waste Dep't
Florida District Courts of Appeal · Decided February 20, 2018
238 So. 3d 418 (Southern Reporter, Third Series)

Hernandez v. Hialeah Solid Waste Dep't

Opinion of the Court

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 *419physician-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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