No. 84-506 

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF MONTANA 

1985 

DAVID BYKONEN, 

Claimant and Respondent, 

-vsMONTANA POWER COMPANY, 

Employer-Defendant and Appellant. 

APPEAL FROM: The Workers' Compensation Court, The Honorable 

Timothy Reardon, Judge presiding. 

COUNSEL OF RECORD: 

For Appellant: 

Robert T. O'Leary, Butte, Montana 

For Respondent : 

Regnier, Lewis, Boland & Roberts; Stephen D. Roberts, 

Great Falls, Montana 

Submitted on Briefs: June 6, 1985 

Decided: July 30, 1985 

Filed: JUL *3 1985 

Clerk 
Mr. Justice William E. Hunt, Sr. , delivered the Opinion of 

the Court. 

Montana Power Company appeals a judgment of the Workers' 

Compensation Court which determined that claimant, David 

Rykonen suffered an industrial accident, aggravating or 

accelerating a pre-existing degenerative disc disease. The 

court awarded permanent partial disability benefits to 

claimant. We affirm. 

The sole issue raised is whether the record contains 

substantial credible evidence to support the lower court's 

judgment awarding the permanent partial benefits. 

On August 12, 1980, claimant was employed by the Montana 

Power Company, in Lewistown, Montana as a lineman. While 

fixing a light located approximately 20 feet above the 

ground, the claimant was attacked by hornets. He was 

lowering the bucket in which he was working at the end of the 

ladder but it did not go down fast enough to escape the 

hornets and he started to climb down the ladder which did not 

have a hand rail. The length of the ladder was approximately 

38 feet and was at an angle of 40 degrees to reach the light. 

As he raced down the ladder he slipped and fell and began 

rolling down the ladder. He slipped and fell from the ladder 

to the asphalt pavement below approximately 8 feet and landed 

on his knees and toes. He was taken to the hospital and 

treated by Dr. Mattley who reported that he had injured his 

left knee and had bruises on his right knee and the back. 

On August 14, 1980 claimant underwent surgery to repiar 

his injured left knee. The operation was performed by Dr. 

Lovitt. Neither Dr. Lovitt's records nor the hospital 

records contain any complaints by the claimant for low back 
problems. Claimant testified that while in the hospital he 

did complain of low back pain and that after the surgery he 

and his wife both called Dr. Lovitt about the low back pain 

problem and was told that it was the result of his change in 

the type of work he did and that he should take four aspirin 

every two hours for relief. 

On July 14, 1981, Bykonen was treated by a Dr. Pardis in 

Shelby, Montana for acute lumbar strain following his lifting 

a three-gallon water can two days earlier. In August, he was 

first examined for and treated for low back pain by a Dr. 

Kidder in Shelby, and he indicated a history of onset of back 

pain of about 10 days when he was loading cans of water out 

of a pickup truck. Then in November, he complained of low 

back pain, and was examined again by Dr. Lovitt. Part of Dr. 

Lovitt's report concludes: 

"He has had no history of injury to the low back 

whatsoever. Even after his fall, he had no 

complaints of low back pa.in. He feels his symptoms 

have been present relatively continuously since 

this past July [I9811 ." 

That same month, November 1981, Byknonen consulted a Dr. 

Bloemendaal, who diagnosed him to be suffering from a mildly 

degenerative disc at the L5-S1 level, which probably 

pre-dated the August 12, 1980 accident, and. the symptoms of 

which onset one year later. Dr. Bloemendaal stated that it 

was medically possible that Bykonen's fall aggravated his 

pre-existing degenerative disc condition, which later caused 

the herniation of that disc. 

In a deposition taken on March 20, 1984, Dr. Bloemenda.al 

stated tha.t. a person suffering from a degenerative disc 

condition can suffer a herniation as a matter of routine, 

norma.1 activity. He also stated that in view of Byknonen's 

asymptomatic low back history, it was more probable that the 
lifting of the water can caused the herniation than did the 

fall from the ladder. 

The Workers' Compensation Court considered the evidence 

and concluded that the August 12, 1980 industrial accident 

proximately caused Bykonen's back injury. It also concluded 

that Bykonen had carried his evidentiary burden of proving it 

was medically possible that his accident accelerated the 

degenerative process and thereby made him more susceptible to 

the herniation he in fact suffered, confirming Dr. 

Bloemendaal's report. 

Montana Power Company contends there is not substantial 

credible medical evidence upon which the Workers' 

Compensation Court could have based its finding, which 

provides in part: 

"The claimant's August, 1980 industrial accident 

set in motion a progressively deteriorating 

condition which was subjected to a dramatic 

flare-up in July, 1981, which ignited a volatile 

and unstable back condition." 

The court based its finding on the diagnosis and 

deposition of Dr. Bloemendaal. His report noted that when he 

examined Bykonen, x-rays revealed a narrowing of the L5-S1 

interspace in the back, indicating a degenerative disc. A 

myelogram performed at Deaconness Hospital in Great Falls 

showed an extradural defect, or herniated disc at the 1,5-S1 

level. 

Montana Power Company notes Dr. Bloemendaal's report 

contained no history of low back pain other than the onset in 

July 1981, following Bykonen's lifting the water can. It 

contends the only plausible explanation of Dr. Bloemendaal's 

testimony is that Bykonen had a degenerative disc in 1979 

which gradually broke down over a period of time. 
Montana Power Company argues that the Workers' 

Compensation Court erred in disregarding the November 9, 1981 

medical report of Dr. Lovitt, which stated: 

"He has had no history of injury to the low back 

whatsoever. Even after his fall he had no 

complaints of low back pain. He feels his symptoms 

have been present relatively consistently since 

this past July." 

Further, Montana Power Company points out that Dr. 

Bloemendaal did not confirm in his deposition that the 

degenerative process was increased--he only suggested it 

could be medically possible that the fall had aggravated or 

accelerated the degenerative process. 

This Court considered a similar situation in Jones v. 

St. Regis Paper Co. (Mont. 1981), 639 P.2d 1140, 38 St.Rep. 

2201. There, claimant suffered an injury to his back when 

turning a heavy piece of lumber, while at work. His 

physician concluded his injury could have been caused by a 

pre-existing degenerative disc disease. The Workers' 

Compensation Court denied recovery by noting that because 

claimant's low back pain predated the visit to his physician, 

it was not aggravated by any event occurring on the job on 

that date, and therefore was not a compensable injury as 

defined by statute. This Court reversed, ruling that when it 

is proved medically possible that an ind.ustria1 accident or 

injury aggravated a pre-existing condition, that proof may, 

together with other evidence, establish a compensable 

disability. 

Here, the claimant and his wife both testified that the 

claimant complained of low back pain from the time of the 

accident and that they both had called Dr. Lovitt about 

treatment for this low back pain. The Workers' Compensation 

Court considered all of the evidence, and found Rykonen 
suffered an injury which aggravated or accelerated his 

pre-existing degenerative disc condition. 

We hold the judgment of the Workers' Compensation Court 

is supported by substantial credible evidence, and we 

therefore affirm that judgment. 

We Concur: /