Dr. Pepper Co. v. Industrial Commission

OPINION

HAIRE, Chief Judge.

In this review of an Industrial Commission award granting claimant’s petition to reopen, we consider two issues:(1) Did the administrative law judge err in finding that the carrier’s disclaimer of liability for “underlying” degenerative problems applied only to those ' conditions that preceded claimant’s initial industrial injury?(2) Does the successive injury doctrine prohibit reopening when claimant elects not to file a new injury claim though the facts would support either remedy?

The initial industrial injury to claimant’s right knee occurred in March 1979 while…