Brian v. Employers Cas. Co., 8977

• Citation: 111 So.2d 161
• Decision Date: 03 April 1959
• Docket Number: No. 8977,8977
• Parties: Mrs. Lorraine B. BRIAN et al., Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. EMPLOYERS CASUALTY CO. et al., Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: Court of Appeal of Louisiana (US)

Page 161

111 So.2d 161

Mrs. Lorraine B. BRIAN et al., Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. EMPLOYERS CASUALTY CO. et al., Defendants-Appellees.

No. 8977.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit.

April 3, 1959.

Rehearing Denied May 4, 1959.

Certiorari Denied June 25, 1959.

John P. Godfrey, Many, for appellants.

Simon & Carroll, Shreveport, for appellees.

Before GLADNEY, AYRES and BOLIN, JJ.

AYRES, Judge.

This is an action to recover workmen's compensation on account of the death of Howard Wallace Brian. The beneficiaries are the surviving widow and two minor children. The defendants and Brian's employer, Retsal Drilling Company, Inc., and its compensation insurance carrier, Employers Casualty Company. The deceased was an oil field worker. He died about 3:00 o'clock p.m. June 23, 1957, of a coronary occlusion about one hour following his performance of strenuous manual labor at one of the employer's oil wells located near Belcher, Caddo Parish, Louisiana.

The position of plaintiffs is that the strenuous exertion and exposure to excess heat from the sun's rays aggravated and worsened a pre-existing heart condition and brought on, produced and/or precipitated the fatal attack and accelerated his death. This the defendants deny. On that issue the case was tried. From an adverse judgment plaintiffs have appealed.

The primary issue for determination is, therefore, one of causal connection between the work performed by the deceased in the course of his employment and his death. In stating the issue, defendants submit for answer the question, did the work allegedly performed by the deceased earlier on the day of his death cause, precipitate or bring about the heart attack which resulted in his death at a time when he was not engaged in the performance of his work and was not in the course or scope of his employment.

The facts as established by the record may be briefly summarized. The deceased, who was 42 years of age, resided near Henderson, Texas. His employment was that of a pumper in the oil fields, in addition to which he was given certain other responsibilities, particularly of a supervisory nature. His work could not be said to be ordinarily strenuous.

A statement as to decedent's previous health appears appropriate. On the afternoon of April 29, 1955, after using a power lawn mower, Brian experienced an attack of coronary artery disease, angina pectoris, immediately following which he was seen by Dr. Paul E. Suehs, a general practitioner and cardiologist of Henderson, Texas. On that occasion Brian complained of precordial pain radiating upward into his jaw and outward into his left arm. On arriving at the doctor's office he had quieted down but was pale. The attack, as stated, followed exertion, but the Doctor was not of the opinion there was an occlusion at that time. Bed rest was prescribed, as were certain sedatives and nitroglycerin tablets for chest pains. Other episodes or attacks followed, some of which were preceded by effort. A more serious attack, however, occurred July 11, 1956, when his condition was shown to have become generally worse, leading the Doctor to suspect on that occasion an occlusion or clot had occurred. History of exertion preceding the attack was given the Doctor. Similar treatment was administered, with instructions as to rest, avoidance of strenuous labor and the summer heat. After several days Brian again resumed his work, although frequently experiencing pains in his chest, which he relieved by taking a nitroglycerin tablet prescribed by the Doctor for that purpose.

The events transpiring on the Sunday of Brian's death may likewise be briefly stated. On that day it was his purpose and mission to inspect an oil well of his employer located near Belcher, Louisiana, particularly as to whether it was pumping oil. Accordingly, accompanied by his wife, Brian left their home in a pick-up truck owned by his employer about 9:00 or 9:30 a.m. and drove to the oil well, arriving near noon, after having stopped for about 20 minutes for a picnic lunch, consisting principally of fried chicken and eggs. On completion of the approximately 100 mile trip, Brian appeared in good spirits and was apparently normal. On arriving at the well, he first climbed a ladder 10 or 12 feet high to the top of a storage tank and ascertained that, although the machinery was in motion, the pump was not functioning.

His work, which was very strenuous in nature, consisted of an adjustment on the machinery and the spacing of the pump, at which Brian worked for about two hours. The temperature was 90 degrees or above. Much of the work was overhead with a 36-inch Stillson wrench weighing approximately 19 pounds. He was required to extend his hands and arms over his head and do this work with this heavy tool, necessitating at times the expenditure of his every effort and strength in alternately loosening and tightening the large nuts which hold the pump and entire string of rods to the end of the beam, in order that the pump might be alternately raised and lowered in an effort to dislodge any obstruction which may have accumulated in the pump. The operation required cutting off the electricity. It was then necessary that he manually operate the pulleys and/or the belts in order to readjust the height of the beam for the re-attachment of the rods and pumping apparatus. This operation was repeated over and over in an effort to properly space the pump and to cause it to operate properly.

Brian's work was witnessed by his wife. She testified that during the course of her husband's labor he became wet with perspiration and pale and experienced shortness of breath. She noticed he grasped his chest in the area of his heart with his hand. Although his efforts were unsuccessful in getting the pump to properly function, they got in the truck to return home.

On the return trip Brian appeared unusually quiet and pale. On reaching Little Cypress Creek, about a mile distant from Jefferson, Texas, they stopped to fish as planned before leaving home. The wife proceeded a short distance ahead of her husband. After catching one or two smaller fish and then a much larger one, he called his wife to come to his location. Immediately thereafter and before she could do so, he crumpled up and fell to the ground. He struggled for breath, first turned pale and then blue, and died within approximately 15 minutes after arriving at the scene. Dr. William S. Terry, a general practitioner of Jefferson, Texas, was called. Brian was dead on his arrival. After making an examination and interrogating those witnessing the tragedy, the Doctor concluded death resulted from an acute coronary occlusion within about three minutes of the onset of the attack. The death certificate so stated. No autopsy was performed.

Six physicians gave expert medical testimony in the case. On behalf of plaintiff these included Dr. Paul E. Seuhs, a cardiologist of Henderson, Texas, the deceased's personal physician, and Drs. Frank T. Dienst, Jr., of Shreveport and Rufus Hale Craig of Alexandria, specialists in internal medicine as well as cardiology. On behalf of defendants appeared Dr. Terry and Drs. H. D. Tucker, a cardilogist, and William Mims Allums, a specialist in internal medicine and cardiology, both of Shreveport. Only Drs. Dienst and Allums appeared personally in court; the others testified by deposition.

Dr. Seuhs first testified as to Brian's previous medical history. His findings were the result of consultation and examination following two previous serious heart attacks and in the course of his treatment as the deceased's personal physician. Following each of said attacks and during the course of treatment thereafter Brian was instructed against over-working or strenuous work and avoidance of exposure to excessive heat. The Doctor testified that effort and exertion had a deleterious effect upon one with coronary artery disease in that it increased the work load of the heart. That the character of work done by Brian prior to but on the day of his death was contrary to his instructions and that 'it could precipitate the attack' and stated that attacks of that character more frequently follow strenuous exertion.

But, without an autopsy, Dr. Seuhs was skeptical of the proof necessary to establish the fact of the exertion bringing on the fatal attack. From the history and information furnished the Doctor, his diagnosis, as was that of Dr. Terry, was that Brian died of a coronary thrombosis or a sudden occlusion. The Doctor further expressed the opinion that deceased could have sustained damage to his heart while woking, the symptoms subsiding and later reoccurring. We are informed by his testimony that this remission of pain and other symptoms may have been induced by the taking of a nitroglycerin tablet, but not necessarily so, and that the lapse of an hour following the cessation of labor to the fatal attack was not unusual or of any particular significance as concerns a causal relationship between the effort expended and the fatal heart attack.

Dr. Dienst, from the facts as presented to him in the nature of hypothetical questions was also of the opinion that Brian's death was due to coronary occlusion and most certainly of some form of heart emergency. The Doctor expressed a definite opinion that Brian's fatal attack was caused and precipitated and his death accelerated by the labor performed at the oil well. In response to the question:

'Assuming the correctness of the information that has been given you, in your opinion was the fatal attack caused, precipitated or accelerated by the exertion of the described work in connection with his adjustment of that pumping unit?',

the Doctor answered:

'I do feel that it was',

and continuing in elaboration thereof further stated:

'I feel it was definitely precipitated or aggravated by the work that this man did as presented here in this case to me, and I feel that exertion has a direct relationship to...