Subsequent Injuries Benefits Trust Fund Raenaldo Abundiz WORKERS COMPENSATION APPEALS BOARDSTATE OF CALIFORNIARAENALDO ABUNDIZ, Applicant,vs.SUBSEQUENT INJURIES BENEFITS TRUST FUND, Defendant. Case No. SJO 0235930OPINION AND DECISION AFTER RECONSIDERATION On November 13, 2006, the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board granted reconsideration to further study the factual and legal issues. This is our decision after reconsideration. In the Findings and Award of August 15, 2006, the workers’ compensation administrative law judge (WCJ) found that on May 24, 2001, applicant sustained industrial injury to the left knee, right wrist, and right great toe, that the casc-in-chief resolved by Stipulations with Request for Award on November 21, 2003, that the permanent disability and the subsequent industrial injury rates to 23%, that the permanent disability and pre-existing conditions rate to 90% (psyche, diarrhea, psoriasis, hernia, and asthma), that the Labor Code section 4751 threshold for “equal and opposite member” has been met. that the overall combined permanent disability is 100%, that the Subsequent Injuries Benefits Trust Fund (“SIF”) is liable for the remainder between the combined effects of the injury and the pre-existing condition (100%) and the subsequent industrial injury (23%), and that applicant is entitled to costs of $3877.50 under Labor Code section 5811, for vocational expert testimony. SIF sought reconsideration of the WCJ’s decision, contending that a skin condition such as psoriasis is not a disability that qualifies applicant for the 5% threshold for SIF benefits, that the WCJ erred in relying on a retroactive prophylactic work restriction to award SIF benefits, that the , finding of 100% permanent disability is not supported by the evidence, that the expert costs do not qualify for reimbursement as medical-legal costs, and that Labor Code section 5811 does not relate to expert witness costs, but to costs for enforcement or de
