Bill Branch Coal Corp. v. Sparks

• Decision Date: 05 April 2000
• Docket Number: No. 99-1836,99-1836
• Citation: 213 F.3d 186
• Parties: (4th Cir. 2000) BILL BRANCH COAL CORPORATION, Petitioner, v. SHIRLEY SPARKS, Widow of Willard Sparks; DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF WORKERS' COMPENSATION PROGRAMS, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR, Respondents. (95-478-BLA, 98-1069-BLA). . Argued:
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit

Page 186

213 F.3d 186 (4th Cir. 2000)

BILL BRANCH COAL CORPORATION, Petitioner, v. SHIRLEY SPARKS, Widow of Willard Sparks; DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF WORKERS' COMPENSATION PROGRAMS, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR, Respondents.

No. 99-1836 (95-478-BLA, 98-1069-BLA).

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT.

Argued: April 5, 2000.

Decided: May 22, 2000.

On Petition for Review of an Order of the Benefits Review Board.

COUNSEL ARGUED: Ronald Eugene Gilbertson, KILCULLEN, WILSON & KILCULLEN, Washington, D.C., for Petitioner. Vincent John Carroll, Richlands, Virginia, for Respondents.

Before WILKINSON, Chief Judge, and WILKINS and WILLIAMS, Circuit Judges.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. See Local Rule 36(c).

Vacated and remanded by published opinion. Judge Williams wrote the opinion, in which Chief Judge Wilkinson and Judge Wilkins joined.

OPINION

WILLIAMS, Circuit Judge:

Shirley Sparks (Mrs. Sparks) applied for benefits under the Black Lung Benefits Act (the Act), 30 U.S.C.A. §§ 901-945 (West 1986 & Supp. 1999), after her husband, Willard Sparks (Mr. Sparks) died. Mrs. Sparks was awarded benefits in two separate orders by administrative law judges (ALJs) and the Benefits Review Board (the Board) subsequently upheld the award. Bill Branch Coal Corporation (Bill Branch), Mr. Sparks's employer at the time of his death, was ordered to pay the benefits and Bill Branch now petitions for review of the Board's decision. Because we conclude that the ALJs failed to explain adequately their reasoning for crediting some medical evidence over other medical evidence and relied upon evidence that was insufficient to support the award of benefits, we vacate and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

I.

Mr. Sparks worked for over thirty years in the coal mines. On August 6, 1990, Mr. Sparks died from an apparent heart attack. At the time of his death, Mr. Sparks was employed by Bill Branch.

Dr. Mario Stefanini performed an autopsy on Mr. Sparks's body to evaluate the presence of coal workers' pneumoconiosis. In his autopsy report, Dr. Stefanini concluded that Mr. Sparks suffered from heart disease, including "the occlusion and near occlusion of major coronary branches," and that this caused Mr. Sparks's death. (J.A. at 62.) Dr. Stefanini also noted that "agonal aspiration and [the] failure to expectorate mucus" were contributing causes of death. (J.A. at 62.) In addition, Dr. Stefanini noted the presence of coal workers' pneumoconiosis, although he did not explain how this condition related to Mr. Sparks's death. On the death certificate prepared by Dr. Stefanini, the immediate cause of death was listed as "[a]cute myocardial infarction" brought on by "[o]cclusion of anterior descending coronary artery" and years of "[a]therosclerotic disease." (J.A. at 59.) Listed in a blank for "[o]ther significant conditions contributing to death" was "[c]oal workers' pneumoconiosis, simple." (J.A. at 59.) On November 16, 1990, Mrs. Sparks filed a claim for benefits in which she asserted that pneumoconiosis caused her husband's death within the meaning of the Act.

Bill Branch and Mrs. Sparks enlisted a number of physicians to provide medical opinions concerning whether pneumoconiosis contributed to or hastened Mr. Sparks's death. After reviewing the available evidence, five pulmonary experts each concluded that Mr.

Sparks's death was not related to or hastened by his pneumoconiosis. In addition to these pulmonary experts, several pathologists also offered opinions in the case. Dr. Echols A. Hansbarger, Jr. noted that Mr. Sparks suffered from simple coal workers' pneumoconiosis, but opined that it did not contribute to his death in any way. Dr. Hansbarger also provided deposition testimony to the effect that Mr. Sparks would have died from his severe heart disease at the same time and place, regardless of his pneumoconiosis. In an opinion rendered on February 8, 1993, Dr. Jerome Kleinerman determined that Mr. Sparks's death "was not the result of" his pneumoconiosis. (J.A. at 148.) After reviewing the autopsy report prepared by Dr. Stefanini and seventeen slides of lung tissue taken from Mr. Sparks's body, Dr. Richard L. Naeye indicated in a report dated December 24, 1990 that, "[a]ssuming that the lung sections provided for [his] review [were] representative of the lungs as a whole," Mr. Sparks's pneumoconiosis "could have contributed to his presumed fatal cardiac arrhythmia."¹ (J.A. at 113.) In a consultation report prepared on July 20, 1993, Dr. Jeffrey A. Kahn opined that Mr. Sparks's pneumoconiosis "was a contributing factor in [his] death." (J.A. at 164.) Remarkably, Dr. Kahn's report was the only medical opinion offered in this case that entirely failed to note Mr. Sparks's heart condition.

In a February 25, 1994 order, Administrative Law Judge Bonfanti ruled that Mrs. Sparks demonstrated that her husband's pneumoconiosis contributed to his death, and, thus, she was entitled to benefits. Judge Bonfanti explained that he "carefully considered the opinions and rationale of the[ ] pulmonary experts" and although he found "their opinions . . . probative," he found"more probative the opinions of the pathologists." (J.A. at 43.) Judge Bonfanti did not elaborate on his reasons for discounting the pulmonary experts' opinions. Judge Bonfanti went on to review the opinions of the pathologists, and, after summarily concluding that Dr. Hansbarger's opinion was "unconvincing" and noting that Dr. Kleinerman "did not offer any opinion as to whether the pneumoconiosis contributed to or hastened" Mr. Sparks's death, held that he found "persuasive the report of Dr. Kahn, which is supported by Dr. Stefanini and Dr. Naeye." (J.A. at 44.) On August 30, 1995, the Board affirmed the decision.

Bill Branch then petitioned for modification on the grounds that a mistake of fact was committed and a second ALJ, Judge Torkington, eventually reviewed the original record, as well as new evidence developed by the parties. Among the new evidence presented were three pathologists' reports: a consultation report prepared by Dr. Miles Jones, an updated medical report by Dr. Naeye dated May 3, 1996, and an updated report by Dr. Kleinerman dated September 30, 1995. In his report, Dr. Jones opined that Mr. Sparks's pneumoconiosis was a contributing cause of his death. Dr. Jones further believed that Mr. Sparks might have suffered from complicated pneumoconiosis, rather than simple pneumoconiosis. Dr. Naeye's new report indicated that after he had reviewed additional evidence, primarily consisting of chest x-rays and pulmonary function studies conducted two years before Mr. Sparks's death, he came to the opinion that Mr. Sparks's pneumoconiosis was not severe enough to have contributed to his death. Dr. Naeye explained that his earlier opinion was based upon lung tissue slides that he had since been able to determine were unrepresentative of Mr. Sparks's lungs as a whole. Finally, Dr. Kleinerman had considered additional evidence since his initial medical opinion, and, in his updated report, he submitted a more specific conclusion "that pneumoconiosis did not cause, contribute to or hasten Mr. Sparks's death." (J.A. at 163.)

In evaluating the original record and the new evidence provided by the parties, Judge Torkington concluded that Mr. Sparks's pneumoconiosis was simple, not complicated,² but that it did hasten his death. In her April 3, 1998 decision and order, Judge Torkington thus upheld the award of benefits to Mrs. Sparks and denied Bill Branch's request for modification. In so holding, Judge Torkington credited Dr. Stefanini as "the most reliable source of evidence of why the miner died" because Dr. Stefanini was the only physician to"see[ ] and analyz[e] the whole body at the time of death."³ (J.A. at 24.) She also noted that Dr. Naeye's original opinion supported this finding, and she rejected Dr. Naeye's most recent opinion because it was based upon x-rays and studies conducted two years before Mr. Sparks's death, and, thus, were too outdated.⁴ Judge Torkington similarly rejected the opinions of Dr. Hansbarger and Dr. Kleinerman because they did not examine Mr. Sparks "at the time of death" and Dr. Kleinerman's updated opinion was based upon the two-year-old x-rays and other"premature" evidence. (J.A. at 27.) Unlike Judge Bonfanti, Judge Torkington noted that she did not rely upon Dr. Kahn's medical opinion because "he did not consider the role of cardiac disease" in Mr. Sparks's death. (J.A. at 27.) Except where she specifically indicated otherwise, Judge Torkington adopted and incorporated by reference the findings and conclusions of Judge Bonfanti.

On appeal, the Board reaffirmed its decision to uphold Judge Bonfanti's original decision and affirmed Judge Torkington's denial of Bill Branch's request for modification. The Board maintained that Judge Bonfanti's failure to articulate his reasoning for discounting the pulmonary experts' opinions was not fatal because his "discussion of the pathologists' findings indicates that he found these physicians to be better qualified to interpret the autopsy evidence and slides in determining whether pneumoconiosis contributed to or hastened" Mr. Sparks's death. (J.A. at 10.) The Board also ruled that Judge Torkington was within her discretion to accord greater weight to Dr. Stefanini's medical opinion on the ground that he was the only doctor to conduct a gross examination of Mr. Sparks's body"at the time of death." (J.A. at 13.) Similarly, the Board concluded that Judge Torkington was within her discretion to discount completely the opinions of the physicians who did not physically examine Mr. Sparks's body. The Board also concluded that "Judge Torkington properly found that Dr. Stefanini's autopsy findings in conjunction with his notation on the death certificate that coal workers' pneumoconiosis was an other significant condition...