Court Opinion

ID: 9667962
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 01:59:20.415014+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:15:41.988892
License: Public Domain

James R. Cooper, Judge. The appellant in this workers’ compensation case was employed by the appellee as a biscuit maker from September 1989 until November 1992. She began to experience pain in her right elbow and sought treatment in March 1992. She filed a claim for workers’ compensation benefits and, after a hearing before the administrative law judge, was awarded permanent partial disability benefits based upon a 5% permanent physical impairment rating. On de novo review, the Commission found that the appellant failed to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that she is entitled to compensation for a permanent physical impairment. From that decision, comes this appeal. For reversal, the appellant contends that the Commission erred in finding that she failed to prove she incurred a 5% permanent physical impairment. We affirm.  In determining the sufficiency of the evidence to sustain the findings of the Workers’ Compensation Commission, we review the evidence in the light most favorable to the Commission’s findings and affirm if they are supported by substantial evidence. Grimes v. North American Foundry, 42 Ark. App. 137, 856 S.W.2d 309 (1993). Substantial evidence is such relevant evidence as a reasonable mind might accept as adequate to support a conclusion. City of Fort Smith v. Brooks, 40 Ark. App. 120, 842 S.W.2d 463 (1992). The question is not whether the evidence would have supported findings contrary to the ones made by the Commission; there may be substantial evidence to support the Commission’s decision even though we might have reached a different conclusion if we sat as the trier of fact or heard the case de novo. Tyson Foods, Inc. v. Disheroon, 26 Ark. App. 145, 761 S.W.2d 617 (1988). In making our review, we recognize that it is the function of the Commission to determine the credibility of the witnesses and the weight to be given their testimony. Grimes v. North American Foundry, supra. The Commission has the duty of weighing medical evidence and, if the evidence is conflicting, its resolution is a question of fact for the Commission. Id. The Commission is not required to believe the testimony of the claimant or any other witness, but may accept and translate into findings of fact only those portions of the testimony it deems worthy of belief. McClain v. Texaco, Inc., 29 Ark. App. 218, 780 S.W.2d 34 (1989). Where, as here, the Commission has denied a claim because of a failure to show entitlement by a preponderance of the evidence, the substantial evidence standard of review requires us to affirm if the Commission’s opinion displays a substantial basis for the denial of relief. Williams v. Arkansas Oak Flooring, Co., 261 Ark. 810, 590 S.W.2d 328 (Ark. App. 1979). Two physicians testified on the issue of permanent impairment. Dr. Oates opined that the inflammation was not permanent.1 The appellant’s case therefore rested entirely upon the opinion of Dr. Martinson, who believed the appellant had a 5% impairment. In its opinion, the Commission discussed the basis for its rejection of Dr. Martinson’s impairment rating: Dr. Martinson opined that the claimant sustained a 5% permanent impairment to her upper extremity. However, in reaching this conclusion, Dr. Martinson made the following comments: The AMA Guidelines do not fit this clinical situation well. At this point she has no objective [emphasis in original] physical abnormalities in her right upper extremity with the exception of the tenderness. The Guidelines do permit some latitude in those cases where the severity of the clinical findings does not correspond to the true extent of the physical problem. On that basis, I believe it would be appropriate to assign her a five percent impairment rating for her dominant right upper extremity because of her underlying soft tissue abnormality and the likelihood of recurrence when put to use. Consequently, Dr. Martinson’s opinion is based on her perception of the “true extent of the physical problem,” which she developed after examining the claimant on one occasion. With regard to the nature of this problem, Dr. Mar-tinson makes the following comments: The customary course of this condition is one of exacerbation and remission depending upon the amount and type of use demanded of the muscles of the arm. The underlying pathology is believed to be one of microscopic tears within the substance of the muscle origin. These heal with scar which, like all scar, responds poorly to additional repetitive stretching producing chronic inflammatory signs and symptoms. . . . Consequently, Dr. Martinson’s opinion is based on her assumption that scar tissue is in fact present which is causing the inflammation. However, as discussed, the findings of tenderness and increased pain with resistive extension merely establish the presence of inflammation; these findings do not indicate the presence of scar tissue or any other permanent impairment, a fact which Dr. Martinson concedes when she recognizes that there are no objective physical abnormalities in her right upper extremity with the exception of tenderness. . . . Consequently, we find that Dr. Martinson’s opinion is based on speculation and conjecture and that her opinion regarding permanent impairment is entitled to little weight.  The Commission’s rejection of Dr. Martinson’s opinion was clearly based on its assessment of the weight to be given that evidence. We have often said that the credibility of witnesses and the weight to be given their testimony are matters solely within the province of the Commission. See e.g., Maxwell v. Carl Bierbaum, Inc., 48 Ark. App. 159, 893 S.W.2d 346 (1995); Bartlett v. Mead Containerboard, 47 Ark. App. 181, 888 S.W.2d 314 (1994). Furthermore, we have said that the weighing of medical evidence and the resolution of conflicts therein is a question of fact for the Commission, Bartlett, supra, and that when the Commission chooses to accept the testimony of one physician over another in such cases we are powerless to reverse the decision. Henson v. Club Products, 22 Ark. App. 136, 736 S.W.2d 290 (1987). In the case at bar, the medical experts disagreed, and the Commission rejected one physician’s opinion on the basis of the limited patient contact and the absence of objective physical abnormalities to confirm that physician’s assessment. While we may not have reached this conclusion were the matter before us for de novo review, we cannot say that reasonable minds could not have arrived at that conclusion or that the Commission’s opinion fails to display a substantial basis for denial of relief. Consequently, we hold that the Commission’s decision is supported by substantial evidence, and we affirm. Affirmed. Mayfield, J., dissents.  There is no issue involved in this case as to whether the appellant suffered from inflammation in her upper right extremity — only what that inflammation meant as to permanent disability is at issue.