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Home Entertainment Video and Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. v. Toombs12/9/1997
of the evidence to support the commission's finding, we must determine whether the evidence establishes more than a "purely theoretical possibility of aggravation and causal connection." Eccon Constr. Co. v. Lucas, 221 Va. 786, 790, 273 S.E.2d 797, 799 (1981). "If it is just as likely that the disabling condition resulted from a cause which is not compensable as it is that it resulted from an accident covered by the Worker's Compensation Act, the employee has failed to establish the requisite causal connection." King's Market v. Porter, 227 Va. 478, 484, 317 S.E.2d 146, 149 (1984) (citing Carter v. Hercules Powder Co., 182 Va. 282, 288, 28 S.E.2d 736, 738 (1944)). In other words, the claimant must establish causality by a preponderance of the evidence.
The finder of fact may determine what weight to assign to expert opinion, even if that opinion is uncontradicted. Street v. Street, 25 Va. App. 380, 387, 488 S.E.2d 665, 668 (1997) (en banc) (citing Bridgeman v. Commonwealth, 3 Va. App. 523, 528, 351 S.E.2d 598, 601 (1986)). Furthermore, "causation between an injury and a disability need not be established by the testimony of a medical expert." Turcios v. Holiday Inn Fair Oaks, 24 Va. App. 509, 517, 483 S.E.2d 502, 506 (1997) (citing Dollar General Store v. Cridlin, 22 Va. App. 171, 177, 468 S.E.2d 152, 154-55 (1996)).
Applying these principles, we find that the commission's finding of causation is supported by the evidence. While the medical records from 1993 indicate that claimant had "spondylolysis at the L5-S1 level" and degeneration of the L5-S1 disc with central bulging, as the commission noted, no evidence showed that claimant's back problems caused her any work disability prior to her accident. Furthermore, claimant had not been treated for back pain from 1993 to the time of the accident. After the February 2, 1996 accident, Dr. Wilson diagnosed her problem as lumbar strain. Dr. Urquia also recognized that, while claimant had "a chronic history of symptoms, . . . the last three months have been worsening pain." Based on claimant's testimony, and the medical records from 1993 as well as those related to the accident, the commission reasoned that claimant did not have significant back pain until the accident, when more serious back pain developed and concluded that "this is one of those rare and unusual cases alluded to by Dr. Urquia" where shovelling snow had caused a more serious back injury "superimposed upon a pre-existing condition." The credible evidence supports the commission's finding that claimant's compensable accident aggravated claimant's pre-existing back condition, causing claimant chronic back pain, and we affirm.
Affirmed.
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