Ray E. Green v. John S. Rawls

Claimant, a forty-year old carpenter, stepped off a three foot scaffold landing with his weight on his right foot. At the time of the incident, claimant was suffering from a progressive bone disease known as aseptic or avascular necrosis in the head of the right femur. X-rays of claimants hip, taken two days after the accident, showed fracture lines in the diseased femur. At the hearing, the uncontroverted medical testimony was that aseptic necrosis weakens the bone making it susceptible to fractures; that, where the femural head is affected, normal walking and weight bearing will eventually result in fractures in the necrotic area; that an accident such as that related by claimant probably did accelerate the progress of the disease to some degree. There was conflicting medical testitmony on whether the fracture pre-existed the accident.