JCC Awards PRP Injections for Compensable Shoulder Injury

The claimant injured her right shoulder when she fell about four feet from a ladder while changing a ceiling light at work. The employer/carrier accepted traumatic bursitis and tendonitis as compensable, and the authorized orthopedic surgeon later recommended three platelet-rich plasma injections after prior corticosteroid injections provided only temporary relief.

The JCC credited the authorized treating physician over the employer/carrier independent medical examiner. The treating physician explained that the injections would target the compensable bursitis and tendinopathy rather than preexisting AC-joint arthritis, and that PRP avoided the tendon-degradation risk associated with repeated corticosteroid injections.

The JCC also found that the employer/carrier failed to respond to the written treatment request within the statutory deadlines and therefore waived its medical-necessity defense. Finding no break in the causal chain and the industrial injury to be the major contributing cause of the need for treatment, the JCC ordered authorization and provision of the PRP injections and awarded reasonable attorney fees and taxable costs, with jurisdiction reserved as to amount.

Source: Compensation Order