Manuel Fagundes — ADJ12309738

Applicant Manuel Fagundes, a working project manager, suffered a carotid artery dissection causing a stroke on May 6, 2019, while using a pneumatic jack in a kneeling/stooped position to remove a nearly 4,000-pound milk storage tank from a dairy barn. The neurology PQME, Dr. Robert Shorr, concluded after reviewing records and depositions that the heavy physical work (involving a Valsalva maneuver) was the proximate cause of the dissection and stroke. The WCJ found injury AOE/COE to applicant's brain, nervous system, and vascular system, and rejected the biomechanics expert report of Kenneth Solomon, Ph.D., as flawed. Defendant sought reconsideration arguing applicant failed to meet his burden of proof. The WCAB denied reconsideration, adopting the WCJ's report and finding Dr. Shorr's opinions to be substantial evidence while holding Dr. Solomon's opinion not substantial because it applied an incorrect 'sole cause' legal standard and addressed matters outside his expertise as a non-physician.