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Perez v. American Airlines/AMR Corp.10/18/2005
laims for permanent disability." Id. at 63, 359 S.E.2d at 264.
In the instant case, the Form 60 filed by defendant does not resolve the extent of plaintiff's permanent disability. Indeed, like the Form 21 agreement at issue in Beard, the Form 60 does not mention permanent disability. At most, the Form 60 payments were an interlocutory award resolving the issue of compensability but not the nature and extent of any disability. See Watts v. Hemlock Homes of the Highlands, Inc., 141 N.C. App. 725, 729, 544 S.E.2d 1, 3 (2001) ("By executing a Form 60 and paying compensation pursuant thereto, a defendant admits only the compensability of the employee's injury.") (emphasis added). The Form 60 payments of temporary total disability compensation did not constitute a final award contemplated by N.C. Gen. Stat. § 97-47. Thus, the Commission did not err in concluding that N.C. Gen. Stat. § 97-47 did not apply to bar plaintiff's claim for further indemnity compensation.
Causal Relationship
Next, defendant argues that there was no competent evidence to support the findings and conclusion of the Commission that plaintiff's herniated disc was causally related to her compensableinjury of July 1998. The Commission made the following findings of fact on the expert causation testimony:
17. Dr. Bullard stated that he felt it was possible for plaintiff as a result of her injury at work to have sustained the injury she described and the damage to ligamentous structures which resulted in the ruptured disc on which he operated in 2002. He also stated that plaintiff's herniated disc was related to her compensable injury based upon her history of continuous recurrent symptoms since the time of the injury and the absence of those symptoms before the injury. Dr. Bullard felt to a reasonable degree of medical probability that plaintiff's central disc herniation at L5-S1 and her need for a microdiskectomy was a direct and natural result of her injury in 1998.
18. At his deposition Dr. Patterson stated that the right-sided disc herniation at L5-S1 could have provided the same symptoms for which he treated her in 2000 and that the herniation could have progressed over time.
19. Dr. Patrick expressed his opinion that it was highly probable that plaintiff's compensable injury by accident caused the disc insult that led to the herniation in 2002.
20. The Full Commission finds based upon the greater weight of the credible medical evidence that plaintiff's herniated disc was causally related to her compensable injury on July 3, 1998. The treatment she received for her low back condition in 2002 was reasonably necessary to effect a cure, provide relief and lessen her period of disability.
First, defendant asserts that the causation opinions of Dr. Patrick and Dr. Bullard are mere conjecture or speculation. We disagree. Dr. Patrick opined that it was "highly probable" that the July 1998 injury caused the disc insult that led to the herniation. Dr. Bullard expressed his causation opinion that the disc herniation and need for a microdiskectomy were a direct and natural result ofthe 1998 injury "to a reasonable degree of medical probability." These statements are sufficient to support a finding of a causal relationship between the medical condition and the work-related injury. See Adams v. Metals USA, 168 N.C. App. 469, 482, 608 S.E.2d 357, 365 (holding that testimony was sufficient to support finding of causation when doctor testified that if the plaintiff was asymptomatic before he fell and developed symptoms after he fell, then the doctor "certainly believe " that the fall caused the plaintiff's injury), aff'd per curiam, ___ N.C. ___, ___ S.E.2d ___
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