Idiopathic Fall Standard, Without the Fall

There was a fall in this case, but the claimant’s injury—disk extrusion at L3-4—occurred before the fall, when he stood up from a seated position. This case highlights that when an injury is personal to a claimant and not related to the claimant’s employment, even though it occurred at work, the injury is not compensable. 

On May 23, 2022, this 73-year-old claimant was working at a pharmacy as a security guard. Soon after the start of his shift, his back gave out as he stood up to assist a customer, causing him to fall to the floor in excruciating pain. 

The claimant’s expert, Dr. Eppley, testified that when the claimant stood up at work, his L3-L4 disk popped out, causing his left leg to collapse and him to fall to the floor. Dr. Eppley acknowledged that such an event could have happened anywhere but opined that, because it happened while the claimant was working, it was causally related to his work. 

The employer’s expert, Dr. Rushton, testified that the disk extrusion at L3-4 would have occurred when it did regardless of the claimant’s location or activity. It had nothing to do with his employment. 

The Industrial Accident Board accepted the opinion of Dr. Rushton, followed the idiopathic fall analysis and determined that the extruded disk at L3-4 was not work-related but, rather, was personal to the claimant. The Board noted, for example, that the claimant did not do something, like bend over to pick up a heavy box, when the disk extrusion occurred, but all he did was stand up. 

As support for its determination, the Board discussed a similar incident that occurred to the claimant on March 6, 2022, which Dr. Rushton referred to as a prodrome, a medical term for early signs or symptoms of an illness or health problem that appear before the major signs or symptoms begin. Dr. Eppley was not aware of the March 6th incident. Dr. Rushton testified that the March 6th incident was the precursor for the May 23rd event and is why the May 23rd event was personal to the claimant as opposed to being related to his work. 

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