KENNETH D. KENT, Employee/Appellant,
v.
LESUEUR, INC., and LIBERTY MUT. INS. CO., Employer-Insurer,
and
LESUEUR, INC., and STATE FUND MUT. INS. CO., Employer-Insurer,
and
HRI for FIRST HEALTH, Intervenor.
Minnesota Workers Compensation
Workers' Compensation Court of Appeals
April 13, 1999
HEADNOTES
CAUSATION
- TEMPORARY AGGRAVATION; CAUSATION - PRE-EXISTING
CONDITION. Substantial evidence, including the opinions
of two physicians, supported the compensation judge's
conclusion that the employee's underlying pre-existing
osteoarthritis was not permanently aggravated by his work
activities or work injuries and that the employee's
disability and need for treatment for the period at issue was
not causally related to any work-related knee condition.
Affirmed.
Determined by Wilson, J., Johnson, J., and Wheeler, C.J.
Compensation Judge: Rolf G. Hagen
OPINION
DEBRA
A. WILSON, Judge
The
employee appeals from the compensation judge's findings
as to the causation of the employee's knee condition and
resulting disability. We affirm.
BACKGROUND
The
employee began working for LeSueur, Inc., [the employer], a
foundry, in January of 1984. In 1993, he started an
assignment with the employer as a "Die Cast
Molder," which involved running and removing parts from
a large machine. Performing this work required the
employee to do a significant amount of standing, twisting,
turning, and climbing onto and off of platforms. In
addition to his work for the employer, the employee has had
his own business for many years, plowing snow in the winter
and mowing lawns in the summer.
Medical
records suggest that the employee has a history of joint
symptoms dating back to childhood, when he was apparently
diagnosed with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. More
recently, in 1991, he was treated for an infection in his
right knee apparently originating with a small scrape or
puncture wound. However, the first knee treatment
relevant to this proceeding occurred on May 30, 1996, when
the employee sought care for aching joints, especially in the
right knee. Over the next two and a half years, he was
evaluated or treated for knee symptoms by several physicians,
including Daniel Borgen, William Shores, Steven Curtis, Peter
Daly, and Thomas Raih. All physicians essentially agree
that the employee has degenerative osteoarthritis in both
knees; whether this condition has been aggravated or
accelerated by the employee's work activities or by work
injuries is disputed.
On May
5, 1997, the employee's primary treating physician, Dr.
Curtis, performed arthroscopic surgery to repair a meniscus
tear in the employee's left knee. On June 2, 1997,
shortly after his return to work after this surgery, the
employee tripped on an extension cord on the job, and he
subsequently experienced additional left knee
symptoms. In August of 1997, Dr. Curtis released the
employee to return...
