Where claimant, who had pre-existing back issues, suffered an injury at work, the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission correctly weighed the competing medical evidence when it concluded that the injury was work-related rather than the result of pre-existing conditions.
Pre-existing condition aggravated
“The city of Richmond, Tucker’s employer, argued that Tucker’s back problems after the accident were the result of pre-existing conditions.
“In order for an injury to be compensable under the Workers’ Compensation Act, ‘a claimant must prove that the cause of his injury was an identifiable incident or sudden precipitating event and that it resulted in an obvious sudden mechanical or structural change in the body.’ …
“[T]here is credible evidence in the record that supports the Commission’s finding that Tucker sustained a compensable injury to his back and spine as a result of the May 12, 2020 accident.
“Tucker testified that his past back-related issues resolved before the accident and that the accident caused new symptoms, specifically Tucker had ‘spasms running down’ his legs.
“As the Commission observed, Dr. Crowl reviewed the 2020 MRI of Tucker’s lumbar spine, Dr. Crowl performed surgery on Tucker, and Dr. Crowl then opined that the accident accelerated and aggravated his pre-existing lumbar spine degenerative disc disease.
“In addition, Dr. Crane opined that the results of the 2020 MRI of Tucker’s lumbar spine differed from the results of a previous MRI of Tucker...
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