Workers’ Compensation – Causation – Preexisting Condition – Aggravation – Twisted Ankle – Medical Testimony

Briggs v. University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill (Lawyers Weekly No. 12-16-0346, 16 pp.) (Robert N. Hunter Jr., J.) Appealed from the Industrial Commission. N.C. App. Unpub. Full-text opinion.

Holding: Dr. Singh testified that, if plaintiff injured his ankle on May 2, 2007 and if the pain from that injury worsened from that date onward, then he believed the May 2, 2007 incident aggravated plaintiff’s preexisting osteochondral defect. Dr. Singh’s testimony was not speculative but contingent. Where the Industrial Commission made unchallenged findings both that plaintiff sustained the May 2, 2007 ankle injury and that plaintiff’s ankle pain “progressively became worse” thereafter, these findings and Dr. Singh’s testimony support the Commission’s conclusion that plaintiff suffered a compensable aggravation of a preexisting condition.

We affirm the Commission’s award of benefits.

Furthermore, Dr. Easley testified that plaintiff’s May 2, 2007 injury made his condition “worse” and “from my standpoint, it was a preexisting condition that was aggravated by this injury.” Plaintiff’s expert medical testimony meets the “any competent evidence” standard to support the Commission’s findings.

Even though some portions of Dr. Singh’s testimony appear speculative – for instance, he declined to testify to a degree of medical certainty that the May 2, 2007 incident aggravated plaintiff’s preexisting condition – Dr. Singh’s testimony nonetheless provides evidence that is competent to support the Commission’s findings, and our standard of review precludes us from delving further.