Comp appeals board OKs claim denied over preexisting conditions

The Tennessee Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board Friday ruled in favor of an injured hospital worker whose claim had been denied over a preexisting back injury that was exacerbated while lifting a patient in 2018, which he said caused him to suffer both physical and mental injuries.

Memorial Healthcare System had initially allowed the worker to be treated but eventually denied a physical workers compensation claim, arguing the injury was related to one he suffered in 2006 while moving a patient for his previous employer and that his mental condition—“anxiety, depression, and ‘feeling out of control,’” — were all preexisting, according to Docket No. 2018-01-0218.

A trial court agreed with the hospital system, ruling that because the employee failed to meet his burden of proving a compensable physical injury, he also could not prove that he suffered a compensable mental injury.

The appeals board reversed, writing that “a preponderance of the evidence supports a finding that the employee suffered a compensable temporary aggravation of a preexisting condition.”

The court wrote that the employer “did not refute the occurrence of the work-related accident in January 2018” and that the employee “presented undisputed proof of increased symptoms in his back and leg following this incident, which he reported immediately and for which he received medical treatment.”

“Even Employer’s medical expert … acknowledged that the January 2018 work accident caused a soft tissue injury that exacerbated Employee’s preexisting low back condition,” the appeals board wrote.

It remanded the case for the trial court to address “whether, in light of our holding with respect to the employee’s physical injuries, he suffered a compensable mental injury and if so, the extent of the employee’s psychiatric impairment and resulting permanent disability.”