CASE NO. 276 CRD-4-83Workers’ Compensation Commission
OCTOBER 19, 1984
The Claimant-Appellant was represented by Miguel A. Rodriguez, Esq.
The Respondents-Appellees were represented by Edward S. Downes, Jr., Esq., although he was not present for oral argument.
This Petition for Review from the November 2, 1983 Finding and Award of the Commissioner for the Fourth District was argued September 19, 1984 before a Compensation Review Division Panel consisting of Commissioners Gerald Kolinsky, A. Paul Berte and Robin Waller.
FINDING AND AWARD
The Finding and Award of the Fourth District Commissioner is affirmed and adopted as the Finding and Award of this Division.
OPINION
GERALD KOLINSKY, Commissioner.
The claimant-appellant suffered a compensable injury on August 20, 1975 as a result of smoke inhalation, and thereafter received specific indemnity benefits for a loss of lung function.
The claimant-appellant claimed total temporary weekly benefits from July 16, 1979 to the date of the Formal Hearing.
Medical evidence consisted of testimony by Dr. Arnold Rilance, the claimant’s treating physician, and by Dr. James B. L. Gee, a treating physician, as well as eight medical reports by Dr. Rilance and a Yale-New Haven Hospital admission record.
Dr. Rilance, in a report dated December 2, 1982, indicated that he believed the claimant was totally disabled on a pulmonary basis, and his testimony at the hearing confirmed the report.
The Commissioner’s Finding of total disability accepted Dr. Rilance’s opinion, and fixed December 2, 1982 as the commencement date of total disability.
It is from such date that the claimant appeals, contending that the onset of total disability should have been at an earlier date.
We have reviewed the record and find that there was ample evidence from which the Commissioner could have found as he did, and we cannot substitute our conclusions for those of the Commissioner. Adzima v. UAC/Norden Division, 177 Conn. 107
(1979). The Appeal of the claimant is dismissed, and the Finding and Award of the Commissioner is affirmed.
Commissioners Berte and Waller concur in this opinion.