Claimant asserts he could not return to his life-long profession as a painter, after dripping paint caused abrasions to his corneas when he was painting a ceiling and caused ongoing symptoms of severe dry eye required medication and disturbed his sleep. The Commission modified an award to 25% BAW, based on a rating from claimant's expert, Dr. Musich, and disregarded a 0% rating from Dr. Pernoud, who concluded claimant had unimpaired vision with glasses at 20/20 but continued to require drops. Claimant was 48 years old.
The Commission found that the administrative law judge erred in his findings that claimant had symblepharon, when the diagnosis was not identified in the medical records. The Commission
assessed disability at the 400 week level (287.190) instead of using the medical tables in the regulations for vision loss at the 140/260 levels, noting application of the tables at a lower compensation formula did not apply because claimant's dry eye was not a specifically enumerated condition.
David Hicks v St. John Development, DOLIR 9-21-10
ALJ: Denigan
Experts: Pernoud, Musich
