Garcia, Norberto

Applicant Norberto Garcia, a cook, sustained injury during a March-October 2019 cumulative trauma period affecting his psyche, multiple spinal regions, bilateral shoulders, left ankle, gait, kidneys, and resulting in hypertension, anemia, diabetes, and a left foot amputation. The WCJ found applicant 100% permanently disabled by adding (rather than combining via the Combined Values Chart) the impairments based on PQME Dr. Lonky's opinion that applicant's internal medicine conditions—particularly dialysis-dependent renal failure—synergistically amplified his orthopedic and podiatric disabilities. Defendant sought reconsideration arguing the WCJ wrongly added rather than combined impairments, duplicated the foot amputation impairment with gait derangement, failed to account for hypertension apportionment, and lacked substantial medical evidence as to all body parts. The Board denied reconsideration, finding Dr. Lonky's reporting on overlapping ADL effects under Vigil constituted substantial evidence, that the gait derangement was not actually duplicated in the final rating, and that any hypertension apportionment error was harmless because disability still exceeded 100%.