D. Everage v. City of Philadelphia (WCAB) ( 2023 )


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  •            IN THE COMMONWEALTH COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA
    Derek Everage,                                   :
    Petitioner                :
    :
    v.                                :
    :
    City of Philadelphia (Workers’                   :
    Compensation Appeal Board),                      :   No. 631 C.D. 2022
    Respondent                    :   Submitted: March 24, 2023
    BEFORE:        HONORABLE PATRICIA A. McCULLOUGH, Judge
    HONORABLE ANNE E. COVEY, Judge
    HONORABLE STACY WALLACE, Judge
    OPINION NOT REPORTED
    MEMORANDUM OPINION BY
    JUDGE COVEY                                                    FILED: June 23, 2023
    Derek Everage (Claimant) petitions this Court for review of the
    Workers’ Compensation (WC) Appeal Board’s (Board) May 25, 2022 order
    affirming WC Judge Erin Young’s (WCJ Young) October 15, 2021 decision (2021
    WCJ Decision) that granted the City of Philadelphia’s (Employer) Petition to
    Terminate WC Benefits (Termination Petition). Claimant presents one issue for this
    Court’s review: whether Employer met its burden of proving that Claimant fully
    recovered from his work-related injury. After review, this Court affirms.
    Claimant worked as an asphalt raker for Employer.1 On February 13,
    2018, while pushing asphalt through a chute, Claimant heard a pop and experienced
    1
    Claimant’s job as an asphalt raker was very physical, requiring him to use an 85-pound
    jackhammer for street repairs, shovel large asphalt pieces and throw them into a truck, rake large
    amounts of asphalt out of a truck, smooth the asphalt to fill the hole, and tamp the asphalt down
    with a 65- to 70-pound tamper. See Certified Record Item 14, April 29, 2021 Notes of Testimony
    (N.T.) at 11-13, 32, 50, 52. The job entails repetitive lifting, bending, and squatting. See N.T. at
    13.
    stabbing pain in his groin, stomach, and legs. Claimant was diagnosed with an
    abdomen/groin strain, for which he underwent right inguinal hernia surgery repair
    by William Meis, D.O. (Dr. Meis), on March 20, 2018. On March 27, 2018,
    Employer issued a Notice of Temporary Compensation Payable, pursuant to which
    it paid Claimant total disability benefits.
    On or about May 7, 2018, Claimant returned to full-duty work with
    Employer, and felt a pop in his lower abdomen and pain like he experienced with
    his initial work injury. Claimant attempted to work for two days, but treated at the
    emergency room on May 9, 2018, where an examination revealed Claimant had right
    groin swelling and tenderness and blood in his stool. Claimant’s computerized
    tomography scan was negative, and he was told to follow up with his doctor. On
    May 14, 2018, Claimant treated with Dr. Meis who initially concluded that Claimant
    could return to work but, after understanding the heavy-duty nature of Claimant’s
    job duties, declared that Claimant was unable to return to work until August 8, 2018.
    Due to ongoing complaints of right groin pain that extended into his leg
    and lower back, Claimant began treating with Michael McCoy, M.D. (Dr. McCoy),
    in June 2018. Dr. McCoy diagnosed Claimant with inguinal hernia repair status
    post-surgery and related back pain resulting from his February 13, 2018 work injury,
    declared Claimant disabled from his time-of-injury job (but he could do a light-duty
    or sedentary job), and recommended Claimant undergo physical therapy, which he
    did.2
    On June 13, 2018, Claimant filed a Petition to Reinstate WC Benefits
    (Reinstatement Petition), again requesting total disability benefits. On or about July
    19, 2018, Employer filed a Petition to Modify/Suspend WC Benefits
    (Modification/Suspension Petition), therein alleging that Claimant had fully
    2
    From June 28, 2018 to March 10, 2020, Claimant’s therapy consisted of therapeutic
    exercise and activity, and electric stimulation.
    2
    recovered from his work-related injuries. Claimant denied Employer’s claims. On
    or about August 19, 2018, Employer filed a Petition to Terminate WC Benefits (First
    Termination Petition). On January 28, 2019, Dennis McHugh, M.D. (Dr. McHugh),
    performed an independent medical evaluation (IME) on Claimant. Dr. McHugh
    declared that Claimant did not sustain a back injury in the February 13, 2018 work
    accident, and that Claimant had fully recovered from his work injury.3
    WCJ Patricia Bachman (WCJ Bachman) held hearings at which
    Claimant presented Dr. McCoy’s testimony, and Employer presented Dr. McHugh’s
    and Dr. Meis’ medical testimony. WCJ Bachman found Dr. McCoy credible, and
    accepted as fact his testimony relative to Claimant’s ongoing right inguinal hernia
    pain. On November 26, 2019, WCJ Bachman denied Employer’s First Termination
    Petition and Modification/Suspension Petition on the basis that Employer failed to
    prove that Claimant was fully recovered from his February 13, 2018 work injury,
    and dismissed Claimant’s Reinstatement Petition as moot (2019 WCJ Decision).
    Employer did not appeal from the 2019 WCJ Decision.
    On July 27, 2020, Lorenz Iannorone, M.D. (Dr. Iannorone) conducted
    an IME on Claimant. Dr. Iannorone concluded that Claimant had no objective
    findings related to his hernia repair and that Claimant’s subjective complaints were
    not related to the work injury; thus, Claimant had fully recovered from his work-
    related injuries and was able to return to work without restrictions. Based on the
    IME, Employer filed the Termination Petition, therein arguing that Claimant’s work-
    related injury had ceased. Claimant denied Employer’s allegations.4 WCJ Young
    3
    Claimant was involved in several motor vehicle accidents in 2018 and 2019, in which he
    sustained injuries, including to his back. Dr. McCoy treated Claimant for the injuries sustained in
    those accidents. However, WCJ Young found that none of Claimant’s myriad of injuries resulting
    from those motor vehicle accidents overlapped with his work-related hernia injury. See 2021 WCJ
    Dec. at 8.
    4
    Employer also requested supersedeas which WCJ Young denied on October 7, 2020.
    3
    conducted hearings on September 14, 2020, and February 22 and April 29, 2021, at
    which the parties presented, inter alia, Dr. McCoy’s and Dr. Iannorone’s testimony.
    On October 15, 2021, having found Dr. Iannorone’s testimony more credible than
    Dr. McCoy’s, WCJ Young granted the Termination Petition on the basis that
    Employer met its burden of proving that Claimant fully recovered from his work
    injury as of July 27, 2020.
    Claimant appealed to the Board, arguing that, based on Lewis v.
    Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board (Giles & Ransome, Inc.), 
    919 A.2d 922
     (Pa.
    2007), WCJ Young erred by terminating Claimant’s WC benefits in the absence of
    medical evidence that a change had occurred in his condition since the 2019 WCJ
    Decision. On May 25, 2022, the Board affirmed the 2021 WCJ Decision. Claimant
    appealed to this Court.5
    Claimant argues that WCJ Young erred by failing to find and/or
    conclude that Claimant experienced a change in his condition after the 2019 WCJ
    Decision, and Dr. Iannorone’s testimony that Claimant had fully recovered from his
    work-related injury was legally incompetent because he misapprehended the correct
    description of Claimant’s accepted work injury.
    Section 413(a) of the WC Act (Act)6 states, in pertinent part:
    A [WCJ] . . . may, at any time, . . . terminate . . . an award
    of . . . [a WCJ], upon petition filed by either party . . . ,
    upon proof that the disability[7] of an injured employe has
    . . . finally ceased . . . . Such . . . termination shall be made
    5
    “[This Court’s] review is limited to determining whether the WCJ’s findings of fact were
    supported by substantial evidence, whether an error of law was committed[,] or whether
    constitutional rights were violated.” DiLaqua v. City of Phila. Fire Dep’t (Workers’ Comp. Appeal
    Bd.), 
    268 A.3d 1
    , 4 n.5 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2020) (quoting Bristol Borough v. Workers’ Comp. Appeal
    Bd. (Burnett), 
    206 A.3d 585
    , 595 n.6 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2019)).
    6
    Act of June 2, 1915, P.L. 736, as amended, 77 P.S. §§ 1-1041.4, 2501-2710.
    7
    “Under [WC] law, the term ‘disability’ is synonymous with loss of earning power.”
    Donahay v. Workers’ Comp. Appeal Bd. (Skills of Cent. PA, Inc.), 
    109 A.3d 787
    , 792 (Pa. Cmwlth.
    2015).
    4
    as of the date upon which it is shown that the disability of
    the injured employe has . . . finally ceased[.]
    77 P.S. § 772. To succeed in a termination petition, an employer must prove by
    substantial evidence that the claimant’s work-related injury has ceased, or any
    remaining conditions are not related to his work injury. See Baumann v. Workers’
    Comp. Appeal Bd. (Kellogg Co.), 
    147 A.3d 1283
     (Pa. Cmwlth. 2016). “An employer
    may satisfy this burden by presenting unequivocal and competent medical evidence
    of the claimant’s full recovery from [his] work-related injuries.” Westmoreland
    Cnty. v. Workers’ Comp. Appeal Bd. (Fuller), 
    942 A.2d 213
    , 217 (Pa. Cmwlth.
    2008). Such medical expert testimony must recognize the claimant’s accepted work-
    related injury to be competent to opine that the claimant has fully recovered
    therefrom. See Sarmiento-Hernandez v. Workers’ Comp. Appeal Bd. (Ace Am. Ins.
    Co.), 
    179 A.3d 105
     (Pa. Cmwlth. 2018); see also Westmoreland Cnty.
    Moreover, in Lewis, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court explained:
    In order to terminate benefits on the theory that a
    claimant’s disability has reduced or ceased due to an
    improvement of physical ability, it is first necessary that
    the employer[’]s petition be based upon medical proof of
    a change in the claimant’s physical condition. Only then
    can the [WCJ] determine whether the change in physical
    condition has effectuated a change in the claimant’s
    disability, i.e., the loss of his earning power. Further, by
    natural extension it is necessary that, where there have
    been prior petitions to modify or terminate benefits, the
    employer must demonstrate a change in physical
    condition[8] since the last disability determination.
    Absent this requirement “a disgruntled employer (or
    claimant) could repeatedly attack what he considers an
    erroneous decision of a referee by filing petitions based on
    the same evidence ad infinitum, in the hope that one
    8
    The Lewis Court clarified that “‘[c]hange of condition,’ [as opposed to disability], is any
    change in the claimant’s physical well[-]being that affects his ability to work. It can be the total
    recovery from an illness or merely that the symptoms subside.” Id. at 926 (quoting City of Phila.
    v. Workers’ Comp. Appeal Bd. (Szparagowski), 
    831 A.2d 577
    , 585 (Pa. 2003)).
    5
    [WCJ] would finally decide in his favor.” Dillon [v.
    Workmen’s Comp. Appeal Bd. (Greenwich Collieries)],
    640 A.2d [386,] 389 [(Pa. 1994) (]quoting Banks v.
    W[orkmen’s] C[omp.] A[ppeal] B[d.], . . . 
    327 A.2d 404
    ,
    406 ([Pa. Cmwlth.] 1974)[)].
    Lewis, 919 A.2d at 926 (emphasis added).         An employer’s medical expert is
    “required to accept as true the adjudicated fact that a condition existed and opine as
    to whether the condition continues to exist at the time of the examination.” Folmer
    v. Workers’ Comp. Appeal Bd. (Swift Transp.), 
    958 A.2d 1137
    , 1147 (Pa. Cmwlth.
    2008).
    This Court has recognized that the evidence necessary to
    prove a change since a prior adjudication “will be different
    in each case.” Folmer, 
    958 A.2d at 1144
    . “[B]y accepting
    the employer’s medical evidence of full recovery as
    credible, a WCJ could properly make a finding that the
    employer has met the standard set forth in Lewis [of] a
    change in [the c]laimant’s condition.” Del[.] Cnty. v.
    Workers’ Comp. Appeal Bd. (Browne), 
    964 A.2d 29
    , 35
    (Pa. Cmwlth. 2008) (emphasis added); see also Johnson v.
    Workers’ Comp. Appeal Bd. (Bucks Cnty. Intermediate
    Unit) . . . (Pa. Cmwlth. No. 1232 C.D. 2010, filed Feb[.]
    26, 2013). Moreover, although the WCJ’s finding cannot
    be based solely upon evidence that pre-dates the previous
    adjudication, id.[,] it may be based upon a review of such
    evidence plus a post-adjudication examination. See
    Adams v. Workers’ Comp. Appeal Bd. (Cmty. Behavior[]al
    Health) . . . (Pa. Cmwlth. No. 1368 C.D. 2010, filed May
    19, 2011); see also Krnaich v. Workers’ Comp. Appeal Bd.
    (Allegheny Ludlum Corp.) . . . (Pa. Cmwlth. No. 215 C.D.
    2014, filed Sept[.] 3, 2014); Johnson. Finally, “it is not
    necessary [for the employer] to demonstrate that a
    claimant’s diagnoses have changed since the last
    proceeding, but only that his symptoms have improved
    to the point where he is capable of gainful
    employment.” Simmons v. Workers’ Comp. Appeal Bd.
    (Powertrack Int’l), 
    96 A.3d 1143
    , 1149 (Pa. Cmwlth.
    2014) (emphasis added). This Court has declared that a
    change sufficient to satisfy the Lewis requirement exists
    if there is a lack of objective findings to substantiate a
    6
    claimant’s continuing complaints. See Adams; see also
    Krnaich.
    Baumann, 
    147 A.3d at 1291
     (emphasis in original; footnotes omitted).9
    In the 2019 WCJ Decision regarding the First Termination Petition,
    WCJ Bachman accepted Dr. McCoy’s diagnosis, acknowledged by Employer’s
    expert medical witness Dr. Meis, that Claimant continued to suffer from his work-
    related inguinal hernia status post-surgical repair. See 2019 WCJ Dec. at 6-7.
    Relative to the Termination Petition, Employer presented Dr.
    Iannorone’s October 26, 2020 deposition testimony. Dr. Iannorone testified that he
    reviewed Claimant’s medical records and Dr. McCoy’s deposition prior to the July
    27, 2020 IME, in addition to interviewing and examining Claimant at the IME. See
    Certified Record (C.R.)10 Item 23, Dr. Iannorone Oct. 26, 2020 N.T. at 12-14. Dr.
    Iannorone recalled Claimant reporting that he has bloody stools, ongoing back and
    stomach pain, and pain in his perineum, lower abdomen and groin, and down the
    inside of his lower extremity since his March 2018 surgery. See id. at 17-18, 43.
    Dr. Iannorone described that Claimant had no evidence of scar tissue, and, although
    he exhibited tenderness over both groins (the right a little more than the left), both
    were “within the realm of normal.” Id. at 22; see also id. at 23, 26-27. Dr. Iannorone
    further asserted that Claimant’s complaints of bloody stools, and perineum, back and
    lower extremity pain are not related to his work accident because they are not
    connected to inguinal hernias. See id. at 28-29.
    9
    This Court’s unreported memorandum opinions may be cited “for [their] persuasive
    value, but not as a binding precedent.” Section 414(a) of the Commonwealth Court’s Internal
    Operating Procedures, 
    210 Pa. Code § 69.414
    (a). The unreported cases cited herein are cited for
    their persuasive value.
    10
    Because the parties only included limited excerpts of the hearing and deposition
    transcripts in the Reproduced Record and Supplemental Reproduced Record, this Court reviewed
    the full testimony in the Certified Record documents and, thus, cites thereto.
    7
    Specifically, Dr. Iannorone expressed:
    [W]hen [Claimant] complained of his pain, it’s described
    as . . . [a]ching, throbbing, shooting, stabbing, sharp,
    burning, exhausting, tiring, penetrating and with
    numbness. And he can’t do anything. He can’t sit too
    long. He can’t stand too long. He can’t have intercourse
    anymore. And when I asked him what he took for his pain,
    since it was excruciating and miserable, he said he doesn't
    take anything. . . . That doesn’t make sense -- just doesn’t
    add up, period.
    Id. at 30.
    Ultimately, Dr. Iannorone acknowledged the accepted work injury and
    concluded:
    Q[.] Assuming [Claimant suffered a hernia status post
    hernia repair and any back pain resulting therefrom
    resolved by October 9, 2018, as WCJ Bachman previously
    found], do you have an opinion, within a reasonable
    degree of medical certainty, whether or not [] [C]laimant
    fully recovered from his hernia, status post[-]hernia repair,
    that he suffered as a result of the February 13, 2018 work
    activities?
    A[.] Yes. I thought [Claimant] was fully recovered when
    I saw him as of July 27, 2020.
    Id. at 28 (emphasis added).11 Dr. Iannorone further declared: “[Claimant was] fully
    healed” from the inguinal hernia and, although he may want to rethink returning
    to his pre-injury job due to his age, “[Claimant] can do it.” Id. at 31 (emphasis
    added). Dr. Iannorone did not testify that Claimant’s condition changed after WCJ
    Bachman issued the 2019 WCJ Decision.
    11
    Claimant argues that Dr. Iannorone questioned whether Claimant suffered an indirect
    inguinal hernia because he testified that “[m]ost indirect hernias are congenital in nature, while
    most direct inguinal hernias occur because of a tear.” Dr. Iannorone 10/26/2020 N.T. at 40.
    However, in rendering his conclusion, Dr. Iannorone agreed that Claimant’s accepted work injury
    was inguinal hernia status post-surgical repair. See id. at 28.
    8
    In opposition to the Termination Petition, Claimant testified and
    presented Dr. McCoy’s March 13, 2019, and March 31, 2021 deposition transcripts.
    Claimant testified that his groin/testicular pain has been ongoing since his surgery,
    he continues to treat with Dr. McCoy and attends physical therapy, and he has been
    unable to return to work. See C.R. Item 14, April 29, 2021 N.T. at 20-23, 29-20.
    Claimant described that he experiences sharp and shooting groin pain (level 8 on a
    1-10 scale) and testicular pain (level 6-8 on a 1-10 scale), like getting kicked in the
    groin, on his right and left, that travels into his hamstrings. See id. at 26-27, 30-31.
    He claims that he is unable to sit for long periods of time, and bending is difficult.
    See id. at 25, 27, 30. Claimant articulated that his pain makes it difficult to complete
    home activities, like cleaning, without having to regularly stop and rest because of
    pain. See id. at 31-32. Claimant stated that his physical therapy sessions help, but
    that his pain returns within a few hours thereafter. See id. at 23-27. He explained
    that his pain keeps him from attending his church and visiting his grandchildren in
    Maryland as often as he did in the past. See id. at 65. Claimant asserted that,
    although he previously took medications to alleviate pain, he discontinued them
    because he “was worried about having a problem with that.” Id. at 32-33.
    According to Dr. McCoy’s March 31, 2021 deposition transcript, he
    reviewed his March 13, 2019 deposition and continues to stand by his testimony.
    See C.R. Item 15, Mar. 31, 2021 N.T. at 6-7. He also reviewed Claimant’s medical
    records since March 2019, including Dr. Iannorone’s IME report and testimony
    related thereto. See id. at 8-9. Dr. McCoy confirmed that he treated Claimant seven
    times in 2019, approximately monthly in 2020, and in March 2021, for ongoing right
    side groin pain extending into his right testicle related to his accepted work-related
    inguinal hernia, Claimant continued physical therapy which provides temporary
    relief, and he has not released Claimant to return to his pre-injury job. See id. at 8-
    14, 28-29. Dr. McCoy described Claimant’s ongoing complaints to include pain
    9
    with prolonged standing and walking, and problems defecating. See id. at 10, 13-
    14. Dr. McCoy articulated that Claimant’s ongoing symptoms were “signs of having
    essentially a failed hernia repair” because of the mesh and scar tissue. Id. at 14; see
    also id. at 23.    Since March 2020, Dr. McCoy prescribed Claimant Motrin,
    Lidocaine, and Cialis. See id. at 15.
    Dr. McCoy’s diagnosis remained “right inguinal hernia status post[-]
    surgical repair” causally related to Claimant’s February 13, 2018 work incident, and
    he opined that, although Claimant could probably do a sedentary job, he was unable
    to return to his time-of-injury job. Id. at 17; see also id. at 16, 18-23. Dr. McCoy
    expounded:
    It’s my opinion that this is permanent. . . . [T]ypically,
    when you have these kinds of issues, you go and take the
    mesh out. [Claimant] doesn’t want to have any[]more
    surgery done. He is like, look, I’m just going to live with
    it. If that’s the case, he was [sic] going to be this way for
    the duration.
    Id. at 23. Therefore, Dr. McCoy stated that he has not referred Claimant to another
    doctor to determine whether further surgery was an option, or whether something
    else is causing Claimant’s pain. See id. at 27, 30.
    [T]he primary role of the WCJ is well settled:
    The WCJ is the fact[-]finder, and it is solely for the
    WCJ . . . to assess credibility and to resolve
    conflicts in the evidence. Neither the Board nor
    this Court may reweigh the evidence or the WCJ’s
    credibility determinations. In addition, it is solely
    for the WCJ, as the fact[-]finder, to determine what
    weight to give to any evidence. . . . As such, the
    WCJ may reject the testimony of any witness in
    whole or in part, even if that testimony is
    uncontradicted.
    Hawbaker v. Workers’ Comp. Appeal Bd. (Kriner’s
    Quality Roofing Servs. & Uninsured Emp. Guar. Fund),
    10
    
    159 A.3d 61
    , 69 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2017) (internal citations,
    quotations, and brackets omitted). “Determining the
    credibility of the witnesses is the quintessential function
    of the fact[-]finder . . . . It is not an exact science, and the
    ultimate conclusion comprises far more than a tally sheet
    of its various components.” Dorsey v. Workers’ Comp.
    Appeal Bd. (Crossing Constr. Co.), 
    893 A.2d 191
    , 195-96
    (Pa. Cmwlth. 2006) (declining to “dissect and analyze
    each of the WCJ’s reasons for his credibility
    determination”). An appellate tribunal must view the
    WCJ’s reasoning as a whole and may overturn a credibility
    determination only if it is arbitrary and capricious, so
    fundamentally dependent on a misapprehension of
    material facts, or so otherwise flawed, as to render it
    irrational. See Casne v. Workers’ Comp. Appeal Bd.
    (STAT Couriers, Inc., and State Workers’ Ins. Fund), 
    962 A.2d 14
     (Pa. Cmwlth. 2008).
    W. Penn Allegheny Health Sys., Inc. v. Workers’ Comp. Appeal Bd. (Cochenour),
    
    251 A.3d 467
    , 475 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2021).
    Here, based on the evidence presented at the April 29, 2021 hearing,
    WCJ Young granted the Termination Petition, concluding that Employer sustained
    its burden of proof based on the following factual findings:
    9. Having had an opportunity to view Claimant’s
    demeanor and comportment when he testified live via
    video before [WCJ Young], [WCJ Young] finds Claimant
    to be neither credible nor persuasive in this instance. In
    making this determination, [WCJ Young] relies on the
    following: Claimant has not sought additional
    treatment with a surgeon to further correct the original
    injury and, while he rates his pain high on a scale of one
    to ten, he does not take any medication for the pain.
    10. [WCJ Young] has carefully reviewed the testimony of
    Dr. Iann[o]rone and finds the same to be credible and
    persuasive. In making this determination, [WCJ Young]
    relies on the following: Dr. Iann[o]rone is a surgeon who
    routinely performs the type of surgery that Claimant
    underwent. Dr. Iann[o]rone performed a thorough
    physical examination and reviewed relevant medical
    records. Dr. Iann[o]rone explained why the surgery to
    11
    repair the hernia did not result in any scarring, explained
    that Claimant’s current complaints would not stem from
    the type of hernia that Claimant sustained, and explained
    that the ongoing testicular complaints of sensitivity are
    within the realm of what is considered normal with respect
    to the male anatomy.
    11. [WCJ Young] has carefully reviewed the testimony of
    Dr. McCoy and, to the extent that Dr. McCoy’s opinions
    are contrary to the credible opinions of Dr. Iann[o]rone,
    [WCJ Young] finds the same to be neither credible nor
    persuasive. In making this determination, [WCJ Young]
    relies on the following: Dr. McCoy has not referred
    Claimant to a surgeon to determine if additional surgery
    would be necessary to address Claimant’s continued
    complaints. Dr. McCoy has relied upon, at least in part,
    Claimant’s complaints of pain in rendering his opinions.
    As [WCJ Young] has found Claimant to be incredible in
    this regard, Dr. McCoy’s opinion as to ongoing disability
    is incompetent.
    2021 WCJ Dec. at 8 (Reproduced Record at 8a) (emphasis added).
    WCJ Young weighed the credibility of Claimant and the medical
    witnesses to determine that Employer’s evidence proved that Claimant’s work-
    related injury ceased, or any remaining conditions are not related to his work injury.
    See Baumann; see also Westmoreland Cnty. Substantial record evidence supported
    WCJ Young’s findings of fact and conclusions. Although WCJ Young did not
    reference the Lewis standard or make a specific finding that Claimant’s condition
    changed since the 2019 WCJ Decision was issued, “by accepting [] [E]mployer’s
    medical evidence of [Claimant’s] full recovery as credible, [] WCJ [Young] []
    properly ma[d]e a finding that [] [E]mployer [] met the standard set forth in Lewis
    [of] a change in Claimant’s condition.” Baumann, 
    147 A.3d at 1291
     (quoting Del.
    Cnty., 
    964 A.2d at 35
    ) (emphasis omitted). Accordingly, the Board properly
    affirmed the 2021 WCJ Decision.
    12
    Based on the foregoing, the Board’s order is affirmed.
    _________________________________
    ANNE E. COVEY, Judge
    13
    IN THE COMMONWEALTH COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA
    Derek Everage,                         :
    Petitioner           :
    :
    v.                         :
    :
    City of Philadelphia (Workers’         :
    Compensation Appeal Board),            :   No. 631 C.D. 2022
    Respondent          :
    ORDER
    AND NOW, this 23rd day of June, 2023, the Workers’ Compensation
    Appeal Board’s May 25, 2022 order is affirmed.
    _________________________________
    ANNE E. COVEY, Judge