Glass v. Kieckhefer Container Co.

• Citation: 45 A.2d 852
• Decision Date: 25 January 1946
• Docket Number: No. 80151.,80151.
• Parties: GLASS v. KIECKHEFER CONTAINER CO.
• Court: New Jersey Department of Labor-Workmen's Compensation Bureau

45 A.2d 852

GLASS

v.KIECKHEFER CONTAINER CO.

No. 80151.

New Jersey Department of Labor-Workmen's Compensation Bureau.

Jan. 25, 1946.

Proceedings under the Workmen's Compensation Act on the petition of Edward Glass against Kieckhefer Container Company for compensation.

Judgment for petitioner.

Edward V. Martino, of Camden, for petitioner.

French, Richards & Bradley, by Blaine E. Capehart, all of Camden, for respondent.

R. WAYNE KRAFT, Deputy Commissioner.

A petition was filed in the above entitled matter claiming compensation under and by virtue of the terms and provisions of Revised Statutes of New Jersey 1937, Title 34, Chapter 15, N.J.S.A. 34:15-1 et seq. An answer thereto was duly filed by the respondent. The matter came on for hearing before me, a Deputy Commissioner of Compensation, at the Workmen's Compensation Bureau, Court House Annex, Camden, New Jersey.

It is alleged in the petition that petitioner, on March 26, 1943, during the course of his employment with respondent, was struck in the chest by a lever attached to an ash pit door, receiving injuries resulting in the disability for which compensation is sought. The petitioner also seeks to charge respondent for the cost of certain medical and surgical treatment which he alleges to have been necessary and which respondent failed to render. The answer denies the occurrence of a compensable accident as well as notice of any injury.

Without going into detail as to the occurrence of an accident, I find from the testimony produced that the petitioner sustained an accident arising out of, during and in the course of his employment with the respondent, as alleged, on March 29, 1943, resulting in injuries of which respondent had due notice. The petition may be amended to allege the true date of the occurrence of said accident.

Following the accident, the petitioner complained of pains in the chest, shortness of breath and coughing spells with occasional spitting of blood. He was treated at the dispensary of respondent, and the physician in charge stated that from the history given, his complaints of pains were in the region of his liver, and made a diagnosis of a possible contusion of the liver. On April 5, 1943, respondent hospitalized the petitioner for six days. The diagnosis upon admission was fractured rib, but a revised diagnosis after Xrays appeared negative of fracture, was contusion of chest. It is significant to note that the hospital record offered in evidence, shows the complaint to be ‘pain in the chest.’ The condition of petitioner not improving, he was readmitted to the hospital on May 26, 1943 where he remained until June 11, 1943. The hospital record shows the admitting diagnosis to be acute empyema, and the revised diagnosis to be congestion of lower lobe (right). It also appears from the hospital record that Xrays taken on May 27, 1943 showed an area of opacity in the region of the right lower and middle lobes, not dense enough to obscure the ribs and that pleural exudate seemed suggested, but it might be inflammation; and that Xrays taken on June 7, 1943, showed much the same as the prior Xrays, and that the opacity was not diminished. The petitioner testified that following his discharge his condition became worse, in that he suffered more pain, coughed more frequently, raising bloody sputum, and became very short of breath. On September 6, 1943, he was again admitted to the Cooper Hospital and discharged on November 8, 1943. The hospital record during this period discloses that the admitting diagnosis was lobar pneumonia, and the revised diagnosis was tumor of the right lung; that Xrays showed the opacity more discrete and circumscribed; that he was sent by the Cooper Hospital to Jefferson Hospital for a bronchoscopic examination on September 18, 1943, and that the findings were inconclusive, but suggestive of a tumor. Following his discharge, petitioner visited the plant dispensary several times and was advised on November 14, 1943, that he was able to return to work.

Petitioner testified that he sought no further medical treatment, but he did not again work until April 4, 1944, when he obtained employment operating an elevator for the Army Air Forces and worked from 8 to 16 hours per day, 6 days a week, until late in December, 1944, when he again developed a terrible cough with bloody sputum; and that he sent for Dr. John C. Jones, his family physician. Dr. Jones testified that he was called to petitioner's home about January 13, 1945, and found petitioner in a weak condition with breathing difficult; that he called daily and noticed his sputum had a peculiar aromatic odor; that on January 28, 1945, he caused the petitioner to be admitted to Cooper Hospital and even though the petitioner was being treated by hospital staff, he visited him weekly, and after several chest taps had been made, concluded that the petitioner was suffering from an abscess of the lung. The Doctor further stated that at the time of admission there was a doubt that the petitioner was suffering from pneumonia. The records of the hospital disclose the petitioner was admitted through the accident ward and was transferred by the Hospital Staff to Jefferson Hospital on April 27, 1945.

It appears from the testimony of Dr. James M. Server that he examined petitioner upon his admittance to the surgical service of the Jefferson Hospital, and after Xrays were taken, made a diagnosis of lung abscess; that on May 2, 1945, he performed the first stage operation and found evidence of an abscess of the lungs, in the right middle and lower lobes, as indicated by the Xrays; that he performed the second stage operation on May 14, 1945, at which time four inches of the third and fourth ribs were removed; and that in September, 1945, he performed the third operation to close the hole through which the abscess was drained. It was his opinion that in view of the history of pulmonary symptoms dating from the accident, that the contusion to the chest wall was of sufficient severity to lead to the lung abscess. It was also his opinion that the petitioner would be unable to return to work for four or five months from November 16, 1945.

The respondent seriously contests the causal relationship of the injury to the lung abscess. But does an analysis of the testimony of Dr. Shafer support such contention? On cross examination, Dr. Shafer admitted that, knowing the medical history subsequent to petitioner's discharge from the Cooper Hospital on November 8, 1943, he believes the petitioner may have had some chest condition at the time he gave petitioner a pre-employment examination, and further that he believed the...