Opinion

Davidson v. SAIF Corp.

  • 79 Or. App. 448
  • 719 P.2d 75
  • 1986 Ore. App. LEXIS 2835
Court
Court of Appeals of Oregon
Filed
May 21, 1986
Status
Published
Author
Warden
On the bench
Richardson, Newman
Cited by
3 cases
Authority
More cited than 66.1%

The opinion

*450

WARDEN, J.

SAIF petitions for review of our decision in

Davidson v. SAIF,

78 Or App 187 , 714 P2d 1117 (1986). The petition serves as one for reconsideration in this court. ORAP 10.10. The Workers’ Compensation Board had reversed the referee’s award of permanent total disability and awarded no increase in permanent disability, concluding that claimant’s condition had not worsened since the last determination of permanent disability. We modified the Board’s order and awarded claim - ant an additional 56 degrees unscheduled permanent partial disability. In light of our recent opinion in

Stepp v. SAIF,

78 Or App 438 , 717 P2d 216 (1986), we allow SAIF’s petition for reconsideration, withdraw our former opinion and affirm the Board’s order.

Claimant has a compensable recurrent hernia condition. The last arrangement of compensation was by a stipulation dated March 18, 1983, which awarded him an additional 72 degrees of permanent partial disability for a total of 184 degrees. The next month claimant had his sixth hernia repair operation. After each operation, he has developed a new softening and laxity in his abdominal wall, eventually requiring additional surgery.

In

Stepp v. SAIF, supra,

we held that, even though the claimant had suffered an exacerbation, he was not entitled to have his permanent disability award redetermined, because the worsening was only temporary and the condition had returned to pre-aggravation status. He had not proved any permanent worsening. Similarly, in this case, on reconsideration, we find no evidence of permanent worsening of claimant’s condition. His worsened condition before surgery was only temporary and, after surgery, he returned to his preaggravation status. Even if the full extent of his condition was unknown at the time of the stipulation, claimant still must prove a permanent worsening of his compensable condition in order to obtain an increased award of permanent disability. He has not done so. He is not entitled to any additional permanent disability. It was error for us to have held otherwise.

Petition for reconsideration allowed; former opinion withdrawn; affirmed.

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

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