Sanders v. Md. State Ret. & Pension Sys.

LINDA SANDERS v. MARYLAND STATE RETIREMENT & PENSION SYSTEM

No. 1637

COURT OF SPECIAL APPEALS OF MARYLAND

September Term, 2019

October 21, 2020

Circuit Court for Baltimore City

Case No. 24-C-19-001998

UNREPORTED

Graeff, Nazarian, Arthur, JJ.

Opinion by Graeff, J.

*This is an unreported opinion, and it may not be cited in any paper, brief, motion, or other document filed in this Court or any other Maryland Court as either precedent within the rule of stare decisis or as persuasive authority. Md. Rule 1-104.

On February 25, 2016, Linda Sanders, appellant, applied to the State Retirement and Pension System ("RPS") for ordinary and accidental disability retirement benefits due to a shoulder injury she suffered as a school bus driver with Harford County Public Schools. The RPS Medical Board recommended approving her request for ordinary disability retirement benefits and denying her claim of accidental disability retirement benefits. The RPS Board of Trustees ("Board") accepted this recommendation and denied her request for reconsideration of the accidental disability claim.

Ms. Sanders appealed to the Office of Administrative Hearings. An administrative Law Judge ("ALJ") held a hearing on December 7, 2018. The ALJ affirmed the Board's decision to deny Ms. Sanders' claim for accidental disability on the ground that her inability to work was not the natural and proximate result of the workplace accident on October 7, 2014, because she had preexisting, degenerative shoulder arthritis. Ms. Sanders filed a petition for judicial review in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City, which affirmed the ALJ's decision.

On appeal, appellant presents several questions for this Court's review, which we have combined, as follows:

1. Did the ALJ err in finding that Ms. Sanders was ineligible for accident disability retirement benefits?

2. Did the ALJ err in failing to follow the treating physician's preference rule?

For the reasons set forth below, we shall affirm the judgment of the circuit court.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

I.Accidental Retirement Disability Claim

Ms. Sanders was a school bus driver for students with special needs with Harford County Public School for 16 years. On October 7, 2014, Ms. Sanders, age 70, was securing the wheelchair of a very large 17-year-old girl to the floor of the bus when the student suddenly "yanked up on [her] hair" and would not let go. While still facing the floor in a kneeling position, Ms. Sanders reached up with her left arm to attempt to disentangle the girl's fingers from her hair and to protect herself. The student continued to "yank" her head "violently" in a "whiplash" motion for approximately 15 minutes as Ms. Sanders shouted for help. A teacher and the bus attendant, who had been inside the school building and were unable to hear Ms. Sanders' cries, eventually arrived and were able to free Ms. Sanders from the student's grasp.

Immediately following the assault, Ms. Sanders' brother drove her to Patient First. Ms. Sanders testified that she was in excruciating pain from her back to her left shoulder and neck. The doctor was concerned that she had a broken neck, so he placed her in a brace and had her transported by ambulance to the hospital. She was diagnosed with a sprained neck and released. Ms. Sanders continued to experience pain in her neck and left shoulder. She started physical therapy on October 24, 2014, and she had an MRI on her shoulder on October 27, 2014. The radiologist's report stated that she had arthritic damage and worn-down cartilage that appeared "degenerative in nature."

On November 5, 2014, Ms. Sanders saw Dr. Levine at Union Memorial MedStar Orthopedics. Dr. Levine's report stated that, after his review of X-rays and an MRI, his assessment was that Ms. Sanders had an "osteoarthritic shoulder with irritated rotator cuff that was aggravated during [the] injury and also cervical spine problems which could be contributing some of her shoulder pain." He gave her an "injection of Kenolog and Marcaine."

Ms. Sanders testified that she attempted to return to work in December 2014, but she could only use her right hand to drive. Cortisone injections provided her with short-term relief that allowed her to work, but once it wore off, her pain would always return. She stopped working in March 2015.

Ms. Sanders saw two additional doctors, Dr. Walter Roche and Dr. Michael Marion, during late 2014 and early 2015. They prescribed pain medication and administered additional injections to decrease inflammation. Dr. Roche examined Ms. Sanders on November 19, 2014, and reported as follows: "MRI of the shoulder completed at John Hopkins Imagining Center on 10/27/14 reported evidence of glenohumeral arthropathy with a high-grade cartilage defect and complex joint effusion with associated synovitis and intraarticular loose bodies. These findings are chronic and degenerative in nature, related to the pre-existing [osteoarthritis]." He further noted that she had a left "shoulder sprain with exacerbated chronic mechanical pain as [a] result of pre-existing glenohumeral [osteoarthritis] with loose bodies and partial rotator cuff tear."

Dr. Marion examined Ms. Sanders on March 3, 2015. In his report, he stated that Ms. Sanders told him "she had very good function of her shoulder at that time after physical therapy[,]" but she had reinjured her shoulder on December 19, 2014, "when she was opening a hatch in the school bus."¹ His report reflected that Ms. Sanders was experiencing "burning pain" in her left arm and shoulder up to her neck and could not raise her arm above shoulder level. Following an x-ray of the shoulder, Dr. Marion wrote that he found "a narrowing of the glenohumeral joint consistent with osteoarthritis[.]" Dr. Marion saw Ms. Sanders again June 1, 2015, at which time he reported that the shoulder looked "much better."

On September 3, 2015, Ms. Sanders began seeing Dr. Anand Murthi, an orthopedic surgeon at MedStar Union Memorial Hospital. She told him that her pain had worsened and had become "debilitating." His initial assessment was that her left shoulder had "posttraumatic arthritis with impingement," and an x-ray of the shoulder "revealed mild early arthritis," confirmed by an MRI showing "multiple degenerative cartilaginous defects synovitis and intact rotator cuff."

On September 30, 2015, Dr. Murthi performed arthroscopic surgery on Ms. Sanders' left shoulder.² She continued to see Dr. Murthi for follow-up visits. During avisit in April 2016, he noted that, if her pain and stiffness continued, she likely would need shoulder replacement surgery.³

On February 25, 2016, Ms. Sanders filed a request with RPS for ordinary and accidental disability retirement benefits. In her application, she stated that she was "assaulted by a student on [the] school bus" on October 7, 2014. She described her disability as follows: "Painful neck with problems moving. Left arm restricted severely, in movement and decreased strength along with shoulder issues." In response to a question asking how this disability affected her job performance, she stated that she was unable to turn her head to check the bus mirrors or lift "ceiling hatches, push up windows," or move wheelchairs on and off the bus. As a result, she indicated that she was "totally and permanently incapacitated for the further performance of duty as the natural and proximate result of the accident." Ms. Sanders' application also included Physician's Medical Reports by Dr. Morrill and Dr. Murthi. Dr. Murthi's report indicated that he had treated her for "[p]ost-traumatic arthritis, stiffness, [and] pain [in] left shoulder."

On June 9, 2016, the RPS Medical Board recommended that her request for ordinary disability be approved, but her request for accidental disability be denied because "the evidence submitted does not support a conclusion that the disability [was] the natural andproximate result of an accident." The Board of Trustees ("Board") accepted this recommendation on June 21, 2016.

On July 13, 2016, Ms. Sanders requested that the Board reconsider the denial of her claim for accidental disability benefits. In response, RPS asked Dr. Robert Smith, a private-practice physician with a specialty in orthopedic shoulder surgery, to perform an Independent Medical Evaluation ("IME") on Ms. Sanders to assist the Board in evaluating her condition in connection with her disability claim and to specifically address the question whether her disability was the natural and proximate result of the October 7, 2014, accident.

On November 4, 2016, Dr. Smith performed the requested IME of Ms. Sanders and completed a report with his findings. After a review of her medical records, he noted that initially she was treated for mild neck pain, and cervical imaging showed nothing acute. She subsequently was diagnosed with "an osteoarthritic shoulder with irritated rotator cuff that was aggravated and cervical spine 'problems' which 'could' be contributing to her shoulder pain." A subsequent arthroscopic procedure showed "diffuse degenerative changes in the shoulder joint."

He concluded as follows:

Impression: Ms. Sanders sustained a soft tissue sprain of her neck in the work incident of October 7, 2014. This condition has objectively resolved. Given the mechanism of injury, there is no causal connection between her shoulder arthritis or carpal tunnel syndrome and the subject date of loss.

Discussion: There is no evidence in the record that Ms. Sanders['] pre-existing degenerative disease was structurally aggravated by this accident.

Opinion: After examining Ms. Sanders and reviewing all of the available medical records, including the job description, I conclude that she is permanently disabled but the disability is not the natural and proximate result of the accident on October 7, 2014. The disabling condition is nonindustrial arthritis of the cervical spring and shoulder.

This report was submitted to RPS for consideration.

On December 14, 2016, the ...