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Cabot Manor Nursing Center v. Strayhorn9/19/2001
NOT DESIGNATED FOR PUBLICATION
AFFIRMED
This is a workers' compensation case. Appellee, Sheila Strayhorn, was employed by appellant, Cabot Manor Nursing Center, as a certified nursing assistant. On July 6, 1998, she sustained an injury while lifting a patient. Appellant initially accepted appellee's claim as a medical-only claim, but subsequently decided that it was not compensable and controverted it. Following a hearing, the administrative law judge concluded that appellee sustained a compensable injury in that she aggravated a pre-existing neck condition and that she was entitled to benefits, including reasonably necessary medical benefits and related care, temporary total disability, and attorney's fees. The Commission affirmed and adopted the ALJ's findings except for a portion of the ALJ's decision in which the Commission "noted that the administrative law judge applied an erroneous causation standard" concerning medical evidence and causal relationships. We affirm.
In reviewing a decision from the Workers' Compensation Commission, we view the evidence and all reasonable inferences deducible therefrom in the light most favorable to the findings of the Commission and affirm that decision if it is supported by substantial evidence. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Stotts, 74 Ark. App. 428, 49 S.W.3d 667 (2001). Substantial evidence is that which a reasonable mind might accept as adequate to support a conclusion. Id. The issue is not whether this court might have reached a different result from the Commission. Id.
If reasonable minds could reach the result found by the Commission, we must affirm the decision. Id. In making our review, we recognize that it is the function of the Commission to determine credibility of witnesses and the weight to be given their testimony. Id.
Appellant first contends that the Commission's opinion is not supported by substantial evidence because appellee's condition and her claim for benefits is due to a recurrence of a non-compensable injury or to the natural result of aging, for which she is not entitled to benefits. We disagree.
An aggravation is a new injury resulting from an independent incident. Maverick Transp. v. Buzzard, 69 Ark. App. 128, 10 S.W.3d 467 (2000). The aggravation of a pre-existing, non-compensable condition by a compensable injury is itself compensable. Hubley v. Best Western- Governor's Inn, 52 Ark. App. 226, 916 S.W.2d 143 (1996). Moreover, the aggravation of a pre-existing condition by a specific work-related incident need not be the major cause of a claimant's disability in order to be compensable. Farmland Ins. Co. v. Dubois, 54 Ark. App. 141, 923 S.W.2d 883 (1996).
Here, appellant testified that she was working for appellant on July 6, 1998, when she injured her neck lifting a patient. She stated that prior to this incident, she never had any serious neck or back injuries, but that sometimes she would get a "crick" in her neck or back from sleeping the wrong way. She acknowledged that she had seen Dr. Rochelle in 1995 with pain in her left arm and numbness in her shoulder down to her elbow, but that she did not have those problems on a regular basis from 1995 until July 1998; rather, she would have them "once in a blue moon" from sleeping the wrong way. She stated that as a result of the incident while working for appellant, she has had pain and physical problems located in her neck and across the top of her shoulders, "pretty much continuous since the day of the accident."
In his deposition testimony, Dr. Robert Dickins testified that the first time he saw appellee was August 18, 1998, and that she was referred to him by Dr. Joseph Shotts. He stated that s
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