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2d 723
3
[T]here
is no evidence in the record to indicate that prior to the episode on January
19, 1979, the claimant had sustained or was suffering from any permanent partial
disability.
4
In his brief before us the Director says the ALJ's "conclusion that Fantucchio
had no manifest hypertension prior to January, 1979, was supported by
substantial evidence in the record as a whole." This is simply not so. It is of
course true that the Benefits Review Board cannot reverse an ALJ whose
findings are supported by substantial evidence, 33 U.S.C. Sec. 921(b)(3);
Janusziewicz v. Sun Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co., 677 F.2d 286, 290 & n. 7
(3d Cir.1982), but there was no substantial evidence that Fantucchio did not
have hypertension. In his original, 1966, application for employment, not only
did Fantucchio admit to a previous history of hypertension, but the company
physician recorded 160/100, a clearly high figure.2
Affirmed.
The Board, on its first review, reversed a finding against the respondent, on the
ground that the ALJ's decision was unsupportable--the issue now before us-and remanded for a finding whether the employee's previous condition in fact
contributed to his present disability. This question, quite properly, was passed
upon by a second ALJ, who found in respondent's favor, post
The Director's argument, that Fantucchio "was in no way impaired in his ability
to work" is off the point. Nor was there evidence that the absence of medical
treatment, of which he makes much, negatived presence of the condition