Court of Appeals Affirms PTD Award on Substantial Evidence Grounds
XPO Logistics v. Ivester , No. 23-1357 (Iowa App. Aug. 21, 2024) Claimant was found to have sustained permanent total disability from a back injury affecting both his left and right side. Although defendants admitted that claimant had sustained an injury to his left back, they argued that the symptoms from the left-sided back injury had largely abated and claimant was not entitled to PTD based only on his symptoms to the left back. Defendants argued that the symptoms to the left back, which arose following surgery to his left back, were not related to his work. In finding permanent total disability, the deputy and commissioner relied on the unrefuted opinions of two experts, Dr. Mathew and Dr. Segal, that the "ongoing low back and lower extremity symptoms, including his right-side symptoms, are related to the work injury of June 8, 2016." On appeal, the employer argued that since the surgery was to the left side, symptoms on the right side with no immediate onset could not