Mid-South Manufacturing, Inc. et al. v. Nancy Brashears

NOT DESIGNATED FOR PUBLICATION

ARKANSAS COURT OF APPEALS

JUDGE ANDREE LAYTON ROAF

DIVISION II

MID-SOUTH MANUFACTURING, INC. and CONTINENTAL CASUALTY CO.

APPELLANTS

v.

NANCY BRASHEARS

APPELLEE

CA02-278

OCTOBER 2, 2002

AN APPEAL FROM ARKANSAS WORKERS' COMPENSATION COMMISSION

[NO. F000017]

AFFIRMED

Mid-South Manufacturing, Inc., ("Mid-South") and its insurance carrier, Continental Casualty Co., appellants, appeal from a decision of the Workers' Compensation Commission finding Nancy Brashears's injury to be compensable and awarding temporary total disability ("TTD") benefits from December 10, 1999, until a date yet to be determined. Appellants argue on appeal only that the Commission's decision that the injury is compensable is not supported by substantial evidence. We affirm.

Brashears began her employment with Mid-South in 1990. According to Brashears's testimony, on September 2, 1999, she was working in an area where oil was on the floor, and she slipped and fell when she stepped on some cardboard. She landed on her right hip and right arm. Brashears immediately reported the incident to Pat Kimbrell and Leroy Armstrong, her supervisors. Regina Ivy and Angie Williams also witnessed the fall, and their statements were introduced into evidence. Brashears testified that she continued to work and that she initially thought that she was not hurt; however, over time, she began experiencing pain, first in her knees and then in her rightleg and hip.

On September 7, 1999, and again on October 7, 1999, Brashears sought medical treatment from Janet Pearson, a nurse practitioner, because of pain in her knees. Brashears testified that she had a history of arthritis in her knees and that she attributed her pain to her arthritis. Consequently, Brashears did not tell Pearson about her fall at work. Brashears then saw Dr. Eric Hatley on December 13, 1999, and complained of pain in her right hip that she had experienced for two weeks, but that had become much worse the night of December 10, 1999. Brashears testified that she could hardly walk when she woke up the morning of December 11 and that she has not returned to work since December 10, 1999. However, she did not tell Dr. Hatley about her fall because she again assumed that her arthritis was causing her pain.

On December 17, 1999, Brashears went to the emergency room complaining of severe pain in her right hip, but the x-rays that were taken that day were normal. Brashears returned to the emergency room on December 21, 1999, and this time the x-rays showed a fracture in her right hip. Dr. Roy Cooper performed corrective surgery on December 21, and Brashears told him about her fall in September soon after the surgery.

In his report of May 31, 2000, Dr. Cooper stated that Brashears's injury was consistent with her slip and fall. Dr. Cooper testified in his deposition that his opinion was based both on the history given to him by Brashears and on his experience with subacute stress fractures of the femoral in other young people. According to Dr. Cooper's testimony, this type of subacute stress fracture can get progressively worse and go undiagnosed for several months until the fracture finally displaces. Dr. Cooper stated that once this happens, the patient can hardly walk and their injury becomes obvious. He also noted that Brashears had fallen on her hip bone, where there is an angle of the hip, and that this is consistent with the type of fracture suffered by Brashears. Dr. Cooper testified thatit was his opinion within a reasonable degree of medical certainty that Brashears's fall at work was the cause of her injury. He also testified that he had not released Brashears to return to work and that as of September 2000, he thought she would need additional surgery on her hip.

Brashears filed a workers' compensation claim contending that she sustained a compensable specific incident injury on September 2, 1999, and that she is entitled to medical treatment and TTD benefits. The ALJ found Brashears's injury to be compensable and awarded her TTD benefits from December 10, 1999, to a date yet to be determined. The Commission affirmed the ALJ's decision and adopted its findings of fact.

On appeal, appellants argue that the decision of the Commission finding that Brashears's claim is compensable is not supported by substantial evidence. When reviewing a decision of the Workers' Compensation Commission, the Court of Appeals views the evidence and all reasonable inferences deducible therefrom in the light most favorable to the findings of the Commission. Rice v. Georgia Pacific Corp., 72 Ark. App. 148, 35 S.W.3d 328 (2000). This court must affirm the decision of the Commission if it is supported by substantial evidence. Id. Substantial evidence is that evidence which a reasonable mind might accept as adequate to support a conclusion of the Commission. Id. The issue on appeal is not whether the appellate court might have reached a different result or whether the evidence would have supported a contrary finding; if reasonable minds could reach the Commission's conclusion, the appellate court must affirm its decision. Minnesota Mining & Mfg. v. Baker, 337 Ark. 94, 989 S.W.2d 151 (1999).

Appellants contend that there is insufficient evidence that Brashears's hip injury is related to her slip and fall at work on September 2, 1999. In order to prove a compensable injury, the claimant must prove a causal relationship between the injury and the employment. McMillan v. U.S. Motors, 59 Ark. App. 85, 953 S.W.2d 907 (1997). Appellants argue that Brashears did not mentionher hip pain or her slip and fall in her medical reports until December 1999, more than three months later. However, Brashears testified that her right hip pain started after her fall and that it became progressively worse until she was unable to walk in December, but that she attributed her pain to her arthritis, for which she had sought treatment in the past. In addition, Brashears testified that she had never had problems with her hip before her slip and fall in September. The Commission specifically found Brashears's testimony on this point to be credible, and we defer to the Commission on matters of credibility of witnesses. Ellison v. Therma Tru, 71 Ark. App. 410, 30 S.W.3d 769 (2000).

Appellants also claim that the emergency room nurse's notes from December 21, 1999, indicate that Brashears sustained a fall in early December 1999 and argue that this coincides with when Brashears first complained of hip pain. Appellants have not included any of Brashears's medical records in the addendum. However, the emergency room notes from December 17, 1999, and the ALJ's opinion both reflect that Brashears reported that she had hit her knees at work two weeks before, but that she already had pain in her right hip before that incident.

Appellants next argue that Dr. Cooper's opinion on causation is based solely on the history given to him by Brashears. However, Dr. Cooper testified that his opinion was based both on Brashears's history and on his medical experience with that type of injury in a young person. Dr. Cooper stated that it is typical for this type of fracture to become progressively worse until it displaces. Once it has displaced, the pain becomes more severe and it is difficult for the patient to walk. Dr. Cooper opined that Brashears's hip injury is consistent with the slip and fall that she described. While it is not essential that causation be established by medical evidence, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. VanWagner, 337 Ark. 443, 990 S.W.2d 522 (1999), Dr. Cooper testified that it was his opinion within a reasonable degree of medical certainty that the slip and fall was the cause ofBrashears's injury. Thus, the Commission's finding that Brashears's claim is compensable is supported by substantial evidence.

Affirmed.

Neal and Vaught, JJ., agree.