Susan Marandino v. Prometheus Pharmacy

Summary

The court held that a workers’ compensation claimant may receive total incapacity benefits after receiving permanent partial disability benefits when the later disability is distinct from and not a normal or immediate incident of the earlier loss, and that a formal motion to modify is not required when the parties received notice and fully litigated the changed condition. The court also held that the commissioner reasonably relied on an attending physician’s unequivocal causation opinion, together with the claimant’s testimony, to find the knee injury compensable. Justice Katz, concurring, would have affirmed the total-incapacity award solely on the narrower ground that the claimant’s deteriorating condition permitted modification of the voluntary agreement.