January 1, 2008
Re: John Smith vs. Worker Company, Inc.,
Deposition of John Smith
Date of Deposition: October 15, 2007
WORK HISTORY:
Applicant, Mr. Smith is not
working now and no doctor has indicated when he can return to work. He has not done work around his house and he
is not working any side jobs. He is getting benefits through his insurance
company and he has not received any other money for any other type of work. He
has only received vacation pay from his union.
Mr. Smith’s last employer was
Worker Company and he was hired by them on April 5, 2005 to work as a
carpenter. He was the lead man about seven months before the injury. After his
injuries he worked modified duties for about 10 weeks and his last day of work
was May 16, 2006 because there was no more modified work available. His job
duties included screwing in drywall, which would increase his pain.
Mr. Smith also worked for ABC
in Berkeley before Worker Company. He was there approximately three years as a
carpenter. While there he suffered no injuries and filed no claims for workers
compensation benefits. He left the position because he wanted a change. There
was only about a day or two between his two jobs.
Mr. Smith has never been
terminated from any of his jobs.
INJURY (April 1, 2006):
Mr. Smith was injured when he
was hit on the right side of his ear and six inches below that on his neck by a
half box header, which is two pieces of metal studs screwed together. The
injury happened on April 1, 2006 around 4:00 pm. The half box header fell at
least three feet before hitting him. Co-workers were taking the half box header
down when it fell. It weighed about 75 pounds. Mr. Smith was standing on the
ground when he was hit and he does not recall if he fell but he did lose
consciousness. When he came to he was standing up and there were people all
around him.
Once he stood up, Mr. Smith
reported the injury to Mr. Jones, his foreman. Mr. Smith did not see a doctor
that day and also did not continue working because the injury happened at the
end of his shift. He was driven home by
his carpool friend, Mr. McKay. He had pains on the right side of his face and
all of his neck. He took Advil that night and is unable to recall if he slept
that night, but he did worry about a concussion. He worked the next day after
he went and saw the doctor. Mr. Smith went to the CDA Medical Group and he was
released back to work modified duties.
Within the last 30 days, Mr.
Smith has felt pain in his head, jaw, neck, shoulder blade, the left-hand side of
his spine, his right side, and his lower right back.
His head pain is on the
right-hand side of his face and jaw and it feels like migraine headaches that
will not go away. He has migraine pain approximately every other day and the
pain can last days, but in the last 30 days the pain has lasted between four
and five hours. He takes Vicodin for the pain and has taken at least five or
six Vicodin in the last 30 days. He has
never been diagnosed with migraine headaches. He had not seen a doctor for
headache problems before April 2006. Mr. Smith spoke to Dr. Carlo about the
pain and did not really get a response.
Mr. Smith also experiences
ringing in his ear that started right after the accident. The ringing lasted
the whole day and night and then let up to every other week. It was two or
three weeks ago when he last had any ringing. He was watching TV when it
happened and it lasted for about 30 minutes until it went away on its own.
For the past year and a half,
Mr. Smith has been sleeping on the floor with pads because when he last slept
on a bed his insides were in so much pain that he was unable to move. He likens
the pain to having his insides wrung out like a wet towel. Mr. Smith first
experienced this pain about a week post accident.
During drills at his
daughter’s soccer practice, Mr. Smith’s symptoms increase once he demonstrates
to them a technique or how to move. His symptoms also increase after being the
assistant referee.
Within the last 30 days, Mr.
Smith has had sleep problems every day, which includes getting and staying to
sleep. His sleeping problem has gotten worse because he is still feeling tired
and is unable to sleep. When he notices, it will take him two hours to get to
sleep.
He experiences pain in his
jaw when he has to open his jaw to brush the back teeth and he has pain when he
is getting dressed and bathing himself.
PAST HISTORY:
Applicant’s full name is John
Smith. He was born on November 3, 1970. He is not known by any other names. He
lives at 1565 Main Street with his wife and three children. He was driven here
today by his wife and the trip was close to 56 miles one-way.
His children are aged 13, 10,
and 9. None of his children have any medical or physical disabilities.
His cousin was sentenced to
jail about two years ago and his out now. Mr. Smith was not stressed by this
event. In the last 10 years, no one else in his family has had to make a
criminal court appearance, had any unwanted pregnancies, or been hospitalized
for any reason. Mr. Smith has not had anyone in his family pass away within the
last five years. Mr. Smith’s mother and father are still alive and in good
health. He spoke to his mother two weeks ago.
Mr. Smith spends his day
taking his kids to school and he used to play basketball, ride his bike, and
play video games for hobbies. He has not played on his soccer team since the
April 2006 injury. Mr. Smith is the assistant coach on his daughter’s soccer
team. Once or twice a week, he is assistant referee for ages 10 and under and
only covers half the field. Sometimes this involves running, but not often. The
games are timed in 15-minute quarters. Children aged 14 and older play on a
standard field.
Mr. Smith traveled to Hawaii
for five days in July of 2007 for his daughter’s soccer games. He snorkeled and
attended games. The snorkeling increased his symptoms, but he did not have any
injuries during his snorkeling.
Mr. Smith was involved in an
automobile accident in 1990. He was rear-ended while stopped.
Mr. Smith is right-handed.
Mr. Smith smokes about a pack
every two to three weeks because he is in the process of quitting. However, he
has not had a cigarette in the past week and a half.
School
History:
Mr. Smith’s last grade of
completion was an associated science degree over 10 years ago. He has taken
classes from his union. He is not currently enrolled in school.
Military
History:
Mr. Smith has never served in
the military.
Marital
History:
mr. Smith has been married to his wife, Mary, for 15
years. This is his first marriage.
Drug/Alcohol
Usage:
Mr. Smith attended Alcoholics
Anonymous (AA) meetings. He no longer drinks alcohol. He stopped right after
the DUI arrest.
Mr. Smith does not take any
drugs that are not prescribed by a doctor.
Legal
History:
Mr. Smith met with his attorney
about this deposition for approximately a half hour. He has not had his deposition taken before.
Mr. Smith filed a lawsuit as
a result of a 1990 automobile accident; however, it was settled out of court.
He received between around $3000 and that included his repair cost.
He has never filed for
bankruptcy and he has never been under a court order to provide child support.
He had one DUI from about
five years ago. There was no accident involved.
He has not filed a workers’
compensation claim before this one.
Medical/Surgical
History:
Mr. Smith has not taken any
medications in the past 24 hours.
Currently, he is being
treated by Dr. Carlo.
His personal doctor is Dr.
Williams located in San Francisco. Dr. Williams has been Mr. Smith’s personal
doctor for about eight years. Mr. Smith has only seen Dr. Williams for his
colon and bowel problems. Before the April 2006 injury, Mr. Smith did not see
Dr. Williams for any problems with his head, hearing loss, shoulders, jaw, or
psychiatric or psychological problems.
Mr. Smith did not have a
personal doctor before Dr. Williams. In the last 20 years, Mr. Smith has not
been hospitalized or been seen in the emergency room for any reason. He has not
been seen in any outpatient clinics or urgent care centers. He also has not had
any outpatient surgery in the last 20 years.
In 1990, Mr. Smith was in an
automobile accident and injured his neck. He does not remember the name of the
doctor that administered his chiropractic treatment. His treatment lasted about
five months and he had no pain in his neck since his treatment.
In the last 20 years, Mr.
Smith has not had any other injuries nor has he been involved in any other
automobile accidents. He has not had any injuries that have required him to see
a doctor or healthcare practitioner and he has not had any additional
chiropractic or acupuncture sessions other than that pertain to this claim.
Neither Mr. Smith nor anyone
in his immediate family has been diagnosed with a terminal illness or life-threatening
disease.
He has not taken any
medications to help him stop smoking.
Mr. Smith takes medications,
such as ibuprofen, to help him sleep depending on if he’s in pain or not. The
last time he took medicine to help him sleep was about two weeks ago.
Psychiatric
History:
Mr. Smith did not take any
psychiatric medications prior to the April 2006 injury.
He was not subject to any
physical or mental abuse when he was growing up.
Before April of 2006, he had
never been seen by a psychologist or psychiatrist. He was seeing an alcohol
counselor for one year about five years ago. This was a court ordered program
for a DUI.
Mr. Smith thinks he is having
problems with depression because he is always sad and he also gets angry and
feels hopeless. He also admits to becoming antisocial. Prior to April of 2006,
Mr. Smith did not have any episodes of depression. Mr. Smith has been speaking
to therapist Dr. Thomas. Mr. Smith discussed his feelings and thoughts with Dr.
Thomas. In addition to stress from April of 2006, Mr. Smith is also
experiencing some stress over his father-in-law’s recent diagnosis of incurable
stomach cancer. There are no other
stressful events in Mr. Smith’s life that are not related to the April 2006
injury.