D. M. Shepherd

The worker appealed a decision denying entitlement for left knee and left ankle conditions, and denying ongoing entitlement for a right knee condition following a workplace slip and fall.

The Appeals Resolution Officer found no contemporaneous evidence that the left knee or ankle were injured in the workplace accident, attributing those symptoms to pre-existing degenerative changes and non-occupational activities.

Regarding the right knee, the evidence demonstrated that the worker had fully recovered from the work-related aggravation of a pre-existing impairment.

The worker's objections were denied.

The worker suffered a workplace injury in 1979 while swinging a sledgehammer, which eventually resulted in permanent disability awards for a low back impairment, thoracic outlet syndrome, and psychotraumatic disability.

In 2007, the worker was diagnosed with a left rotator cuff tear and sought entitlement, claiming it was related to the 1979 accident.

The Appeals Resolution Officer denied the appeal, finding no medical evidence of a rotator cuff injury in the decades following the accident, concluding the condition developed many years later and did not occur in the course of employment.

The worker objected to a decision denying entitlement to a permanent low back impairment and associated health care benefits following a November 2000 workplace injury.

The worker had sustained a low back strain while unloading cases of liquor and subsequently developed chronic mechanical low back pain, alongside other conditions including hypermobility and sacroiliac dysfunction.

The Appeals Resolution Officer granted the objection in part, finding continuity of medical attention for the mechanical low back pain, which was aggravated by the workplace accident.

Entitlement was granted for a permanent impairment related to mechanical low back pain without significant neurological impairment, as well as specific health care benefits including massage therapy and facet joint injections.

Entitlement for other inherent conditions and prolotherapy was denied.