Tennessee comp court OKs knee replacement

A Tennessee Court of Workers’ Compensation Claims judge on Wednesday approved knee replacement surgery for a 78-year-old oil company worker whose request for the operation was denied by his employer, who argued that the need for it stemmed from preexisting conditions.

In Fults, William v. Gant Oil Company, Inc., the judge wrote that the case, in which William Fults injured his knee in 2024 while climbing a ladder truck, presents “the often daunting challenge of quantifying causation in circumstances where an employee is alleging a work-related aggravation of a preexisting condition.”

Doctors provided conflicting evidence on whether Mr. Fults’ preexisting arthritis, among other degenerative issues, called for a total knee replacement or whether the work accident made the surgery necessary.

The judge relied on case law that applies a test as to whether a preexisting condition weighs heavily on the injury, writing that a trial court must consider “whether the employee was symptomatic or asymptomatic prior to the work accident; (2) whether the employee was experiencing any functional limitations caused by that preexisting condition prior to the work accident; and (3) whether the evidence reveals any anatomic change to the body part(s) in question after the work accident.”

According to the record, “Mr. Fults credibly testified that he had no symptoms in his left knee before the work accident. At age 78, he was able to perform all job duties, including regularly climbing ladders, with no trouble, and he also walked approximately 14 miles per week for exercise. His son confirmed this testimony.”

In weighing further medical evidence that suggested Mr. Fults had other conditions but was fully functioning before the 2024 incident, the court wrote that Mr. Fults was likely to prevail and that the work incident “aggravated (the) preexisting osteoarthritis, and this aggravation, and treatment of it, primarily caused his current need for a total knee replacement.”