COURT OF APPEALS OF VIRGINIA
Present: Judges Bray, Annunziata and Overton
PHILIP ALAN CARTWRIGHT
MEMORANDUM OPINION *
v. Record No. 2059-97-3 PER CURIAM
FEBRUARY 3, 1998
THE CITY OF COVINGTON AND VIRGINIA
MUTUAL GROUP SELF INSURANCE PROGRAM
FROM THE VIRGINIA WORKERS' COMPENSATION COMMISSION
(William A. Parks, Jr.; Parks & Vaught, on
brief), for appellant.
(Richard D. Lucas; Carter, Brown & Osborne,
on brief), for appellees.
Philip Alan Cartwright (claimant) contends that the Workers'
Compensation Commission erred in finding that the medical
treatment rendered to him by Dr. Preston A. Waldrop, an
orthopedic surgeon, was not causally related to his compensable
May 5, 1993 injury by accident. Upon reviewing the record and
briefs of the parties, we conclude that this appeal is without
merit. Accordingly, we summarily affirm the commission's
decision. See Rule 5A:27.
On appeal, we view the evidence in the light most favorable
to the prevailing party below. See R.G. Moore Bldg. Corp. v.
Mullins, 10 Va. App. 211, 212, 390 S.E.2d 788, 788 (1990).
Unless we can say as a matter of law that claimant's evidence
sustained his burden of proof, the commission's findings are
*
Pursuant to Code § 17-116.010 this opinion is not
designated for publication.
binding and conclusive upon us. See Tomko v. Michael's
Plastering Co., 210 Va. 697, 699, 173 S.E.2d 833, 835 (1970).
In ruling that claimant's evidence failed to sustain his
burden of proof, the commission found as follows:
The medical record makes it clear that the
claimant suffered from preexisting
degenerative cervical disc disease and left
shoulder bursitis. It is true that an
employer takes an employee as it finds them
and is responsible for accident-related
aggravations of preexisting medical
conditions. However, . . . [i]n this case,
it is clear that the claimant will have
intermittent "flare-ups" and aggravations of
his preexisting conditions as a result of the
general activities of his employment and
other daily life activities. This does not
make the employer responsible for every
flare-up.
The claimant's preexisting left shoulder
condition was aggravated by the compensable
accident. He sought medical treatment for
his left shoulder shortly after the alleged
accident and this treatment continued. The
claimant did not specifically seek medical
treatment for his degenerative cervical disc
disease until almost one year after the
compensable accident, at which time he,
himself, related it to the accident. The
medical evidence does not adequately
establish such a causal relationship between
the compensable accident and the continuing
medical treatment for the degenerative
cervical disc disease. The medical records
support the Deputy Commissioner's finding to
the contrary. Dr. Waldrop, in his report of
October 11, 1996, stated that he had been
treating the claimant for the same problems
since he initially saw him in March 1993,
which was before the compensable accident.
The commission's findings are amply supported by Dr.
Waldrop's medical records. Based upon Dr. Waldrop's medical
records and the lack of any recorded complaints of neck symptoms
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until one year after the compensable accident, we cannot find as
a matter of law that claimant's evidence sustained his burden of
proof.
Accordingly, we affirm the commission's decision.
Affirmed.
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