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Timmons v. North Carolina Dept. of Transportation12/3/1999
ntiff. . . .
10. The Full Commission accepts this plan as a necessary life care plan as a result of the injuries suffered by plaintiff.
In Adams v. AVX Corp., this Court stated:
"The findings of fact by the Industrial Commission are conclusive on appeal if supported by any competent evidence." Gallimore v. Marilyn's Shoes, 292 N.C. 399, 402, 233 S.E.2d 529, 531 (1977). Thus, on appeal, this Court "does not have the right to weigh the evidence and decide the issue on the basis of its weight. The court's duty goes no further than to determine whether the record contains any evidence tending to support the finding." Anderson[ v. Lincoln Constr. Co.], 265 N.C. [431,] 434, 144 S.E.2d [272,] 274[ (1965)].
N.C.G.S. § 97-86 provides that "an award of the Commission upon such review, as provided in G.S. § 97-85, shall be conclusive and binding as to all questions of fact." N.C.G.S. § 97-86 (1991). As we stated in Jones v. Myrtle Desk Co., 264 N.C. 401, 141 S.E.2d 632 (1965), " he findings of fact of the Industrial Commission are conclusive on appeal when supported by competent evidence, even though there be evidence that would support findings to the contrary." Id. at 402, 141 S.E.2d at 633.
Adams, 349 N.C. at 681, 509 S.E.2d at 414. This Court must accept the Commission's findings of fact if there is any competent evidence to support those findings.
While preparation of a life care plan is not necessary in all workers' compensation cases, the record before us contains competent evidence to support the Commission's finding that a life care plan was necessary as a result of the injuries suffered by plaintiff in this case.
Dr. Wilhelm, a rehabilitation expert who teaches at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, explained that a life care plan is a plan "to evaluate what [plaintiff's] needs would be presently and what his needs would be in the future." In her deposition, Dr. Wilhelm strongly recommended the development of a life care plan to evaluate plaintiff's present and future needs. She further testified that spinal cord injuries require constant monitoring of bowel/bladder, skin, orthopedic issues, neurological issues, and respiratory issues, as well as physical therapy and occupational therapy, and that plaintiff had not been examined by a neurologist or orthopedist since his discharge from the rehabilitation center in 1980. She further stated that plaintiff had not been followed on a regular basis other than urologically, and even that was sporadic. We believe this evidence was sufficient to support a finding by the Commission that preparation of a life care plan was a rehabilitative service necessary to give relief to the paraplegic claimant within the meaning of N.C.G.S. § 97-25.
An appellate court does not weigh the evidence in order to make new findings; rather, it is bound by the Commission's findings of fact when there is any evidence to support those findings, even though the evidence may well support contrary findings. Here, the record contains some competent evidence to support the Commission's finding that the life care plan was necessary as a result of the injury to plaintiff in this case. Therefore, the Court of Appeals erred by rejecting this finding and overruling the Commission.
REVERSED.
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