Hammons, Shirley

Applicant Shirley Hammons, a food preparer, claimed industrial injury to her right foot and bilateral knees after a 10-pound can of tomato/spaghetti sauce fell on her right foot at work on October 19, 2017. She later developed necrotizing fasciitis requiring debridement and a skin graft. The Cottage Hospital records indicated the initial can incident resolved with ice and that her foot became swollen and red only after she bumped it on a table at home three days before admission. After the Board's December 2, 2019 decision returned the matter to allow applicant to develop substantial medical evidence of causation, defendant introduced QME reports from hematologist Dr. Drazin and orthopedist Dr. Fields, whose deposition testimony conceded that any link between the can incident, a hypothesized hematoma, and the necrotizing fasciitis was based on surmise and speculation. The Board found applicant failed to carry her burden of proving industrial causation by substantial medical evidence and rescinded the WCJ's August 13, 2021 finding of industrial injury, issuing a take-nothing order with jurisdiction reserved over reasonable medical-legal costs.