West Virginia appeals court rules competing cancer evidence falls in favor of dead worker

The husband of a worker who died of colorectal cancer from her years of working for a chemical company is eligible for workers compensation survivor benefits despite conflicting evidence over disease causation, a determination a West Virginia appeals court on Wednesday said is in line with state law.

Both parties in Union Carbide Corp., a subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Co. v. Christina Dearien and Thomas Dearien submitted medical opinions that assessed that Ms. Dearien’s cancer was caused by her work with the Union Carbide Corp. and, conversely, that her diagnosis was unrelated to her job.

In affirming a West Virginia Workers’ Compensation Board of Review ruling that her cancer was compensable under workers comp, the Intermediate Court of Appeals of West Virginia cited state law that stipulates if “after weighing all of the evidence regarding an issue in which a claimant has an interest, there is a finding that an equal amount of evidentiary weight exists favoring conflicting matters for resolution, (then) the resolution that is most consistent with the claimant’s position will be adopted.”