JCC Finds Claimant Not at MMI and Awards TPD After Box-Strike Neck Injuries

In Erwin Nieto Lopez v. CPC Logistics Inc/CCMSI, OJCC Case No. 25-030639ERA, Judge Edward Almeyda considered consolidated claims from two 2025 accidents in which heavy boxes struck the claimant’s face, shoulder, and neck. By final hearing, the parties had narrowed the dispute to whether the claimant had actually reached maximum medical improvement and whether temporary partial disability benefits remained due.

Treating orthopedic surgeon Dr. Deeptee Jain testified that the claimant was at MMI as of December 2, 2025, had no objective basis for continued restrictions, and that injections would be only palliative. The claimant’s IME, Dr. Petersen, disagreed after reviewing the MRI, examining the claimant, and attributing the ongoing cervical complaints and radicular symptoms to the work accidents rather than to unrelated degenerative findings.

Judge Almeyda accepted the claimant’s testimony and credited Dr. Petersen’s opinion over Dr. Jain’s. The order found the claimant had not yet reached MMI from either accident, awarded temporary partial disability benefits for the disputed period, and reserved jurisdiction to determine attorney’s fees and costs later.

Source: Compensation Order