JCC Denies Low-Back Benefits Based on Preexisting Degenerative Condition

In Johnson v. City of Gainesville/CorVel Enterprise Claims, Inc., the claimant sought temporary disability benefits, orthopedic and pain-management care, physical therapy, and payment for a September 16, 2025 UF Health Shands emergency-room visit after a June 9, 2025 low-back injury while handling sandbags.

Judge William R. Holley denied the claims after finding that the only admissible medical causation opinion came from authorized treating physician Dr. Steven Yucht. Dr. Yucht compared pre-accident lumbar MRIs from 2021 and 2022 with the August 2025 MRI and testified there were no substantive structural changes, making the claimant's personal preexisting degenerative lumbar condition the major contributing cause of any treatment need after August 14, 2025.

The order also rejected payment for the Shands emergency-room visit because the care was unauthorized and the claimant did not prove the required request-and-response elements for self-help treatment under Parodi. Compensability, TTD/TPD, authorized medical care, past medical care, penalties, interest, and claimant-paid costs were denied and dismissed with prejudice, with jurisdiction reserved only for the employer/carrier's taxable-cost claim.

Source: Compensation Order