Dane Hidden v. Day & Zimmerman/Florida Power & Light etc., 202 So. 3d 441

Claimant alleged sudden neck pain and loss of consciousness at work on May 22, 2015, and was taken to an ER; Employer/Carrier (E/C) refused to authorize any treatment and denied compensability.
Claimant obtained unauthorized (self-help) care from Dr. Brown (orthopedics) and Dr. Estes (physiatry), who diagnosed cervical injuries and opined work causation; Dr. Estes also performed epidural injections.
Claimant filed a petition for benefits seeking compensability and submitted depositions of Drs. Brown and Estes as medical opinion evidence.
E/C objected under section 440.13(5)(e), which bars medical opinion evidence from unauthorized providers; Claimant argued the doctors were authorized by operation of law under section 440.13(2)(c) (self-help when E/C fails to provide initial treatment).
The JCC excluded the doctors’ medical opinions as inadmissible bootstrapped evidence, found no admissible medical proof of compensability, and denied the petition.
The First DCA affirmed, holding that self-help doctors’ opinions are inadmissible unless compensability and medical necessity of the self-help care are established by other admissible evidence.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether medical opinions of unauthorized self-help doctors are admissible to prove compensability	Drs. Brown and Estes were authorized by operation of law under section 440.13(2)(c) because E/C failed to provide initial treatment, so their opinions are admissible	Section 440.13(5)(e) bars medical opinions from unauthorized providers; self-help authorization requires that the care be shown compensable and medically necessary first	Court held opinions inadmissible; self-help doctors cannot "bootstrap" their own opinions—compensability/necessity must be established by other admissible evidence

Miller Elec. Co. v. Oursler, 113 So. 3d 1004 (Fla. 1st DCA 2013) (self-help provider may not bootstrap its own medical opinions; compensability must be shown with independent admissible medical opinion)
Parodi v. Fla. Contracting Co., 16 So. 3d 958 (Fla. 1st DCA 2009) (employee bears burden to prove care was compensable, reasonable, and medically necessary)
Romano v. Trinity Sch. for Children, 43 So. 3d 928 (Fla. 1st DCA 2010) (discusses limits on admitting medical opinions from unauthorized providers)
Carmack v. Dep’t of Agric., 31 So. 3d 798 (Fla. 1st DCA 2009) (same principle restricting unauthorized medical opinion evidence)
Boggs v. USA Water Ski, Inc., 18 So. 3d 610 (Fla. 1st DCA 2009) (same principle limiting self-help evidence)