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Saville v. Workers' Compensation Appeal Board8/7/2000
tween any currently existing disability and the work-related injury. See Davis, 749 A.2d at 1035, quoting, Parker v. Workers' Compensation Appeal Board (Dock Terrace Nursing Home), 729 A.2d 102, 104-05 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1999).
To put this in concrete terms, this means, as explained above, that any restrictions placed upon a claimant which are not causally related to the work injury do not preclude the grant of an employer's termination petition. In other words, the phrase from Udvari, "can return to work without restrictions" means "can return to work without restrictions which are causally related to the work injury." See, e.g., Pavonarius v. Workers' Compensation Appeal Board (Samuel Levitt Sheet Metal, Inc.), 714 A.2d 1135 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1998), allocatur denied, 558 Pa. 613, 736 A.2d 606 (1999)(termination properly granted where employer's doctor testified that claimant's continuing pain and restrictions were related to pre-existing degenerative disc disease and not to claimant's work-related low back sprain/strain which was fully resolved).
Because Employer's medical expert's testimony as a whole, viewed in a light most favorable to Employer as the party who succeeded before the factfinder, establishes that Claimant had fully recovered from his work related injury and that there was no objective basis for Claimant's subjective complaints of ongoing pain and that the remaining restrictions placed upon Claimant were not related to the work injury, Employer met his burden under Udvari to merit a termination. Accordingly, this issue does not merit Claimant relief.
The next issue which Claimant raises is whether the WCJ's finding of full recovery is supported by substantial evidence, notwithstanding Claimant's subjective complaints of pain and Employer's medical expert testimony that no objective basis exists for the complaints when there actually exists abnormal
Claimant points to the fact that there were allegedly two abnormal EMG studies taken of Claimant's lower extremities in May 1994 and in August 1997. Claimant's expert, Dr. LoBianco, testified that he referred Claimant to a Doctor Kaplan who performed EMGs in May 1994 and in August 1997 which, according to Dr. Kaplan, indicated lumbosacral radiculopathy. Dr. LoBianco was not provided with the actual EMG results but only with a written narrative summary by Dr. Kaplan. R.R. at 78r. Claimant essentially argues that because Employer's medical expert, Dr. Resnick did not have either the two EMG studies or Dr. Kaplan's narrative summary, Dr. Resnick's expert opinion regarding Claimant's full recovery is incompetent as a matter of law and thus cannot provide substantial evidence to support the WCJ's finding of full recovery.
We note however, that Dr. Resnick testified that he conducted a thorough physical examination of Claimant on March 13, 1997, making Claimant undergo a series of physical tests including a neurological examination. In addition, Dr. Resnick, examined an MRI and other diagnostic studies which failed to show any disc abnormalities but for the existence of pre-existing degenerative disc disease. Claimant had full range of motion of the lumbar spine with no local tenderness, as well as full range of motion of the lower extremities, with no evidence of atrophy. Claimant had an entirely negative neurological exam. Lastly, Dr. Resnick found no evidence on physical exam of any radiculopathy or findings consistent with nerve injury. See WCJ's Findings of Fact (F.F.) Nos. 3-5. This testimony combined with Dr. Resnick's opinion that Claimant has fully recovered from his work injury constitutes such relevant evidence as a reasonable person might accept as adequate to support the WCJ's finding of full recove
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