Prebish v. WCAB (DPW Western Church)

In Prebish v. Workers' Compensation Appeal Board (DPW/Western Church), 954 A.2d 677 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2008), the issue was whether, in light of the decision in Lewis, the employer met its burden of showing a change in the claimant's physical condition from the time of the last disability determination in order to obtain a termination of the claimant's benefits. The Court pointed out that the second WCJ credited the employer's physician's testimony that the claimant had fully recovered from the accepted work injury to her right knee and that any remaining symptomology was not work-related. However, it was unclear from the second WCJ's findings whether the employer's physician's testimony satisfied the standard set forth in Lewis, i.e., whether the claimant's physical condition changed from the time of the first WCJ's adjudication. The Court specifically held that "while it was not as clear prior to Lewis that such a factual finding was necessary in this context, it is now abundantly clear that such a finding is required." Prebish, 954 A.2d at 684.