State ex rel. Hughes v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co

In State ex rel. Hughes v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (1986), 26 Ohio St.3d 71, 26 Ohio B. 61, 498 N.E.2d 459, the plurality of the court sustained as constituting "some evidence" the reports of several non-examining physicians, including one which merely indicated that all medical reports had been reviewed (without naming the doctors), and which cited numerous findings from those reports (without attributing them to any specific examiner). The court held that reports of non-examining physicians which consider and impliedly accept all of the allowed conditions relative to the claim before rendering a final evaluation with respect to impairment constitute "some evidence" to support a commission allowance or disallowance of a claim. The court stated that its opinions in this area: Should not provide the basis for usurping the role of the commission in determining disability by creating arbitrary exclusionary rules that eliminate evidence the commission might find credible because such evidence fails to include "magic words" to conform with hypertechnical evidentiary rules, e.g., "I expressly adopt the findings but not the opinion of Dr. 'X.'" Id. at 74.