Kabai v. Majestic Colleries Co.
| Citation | 293 Ky. 783 |
| Parties | Kabai v. Majestic Colleries Co. et al. |
| Decision Date | 09 March 1943 |
| Court | United States State Supreme Court (Kentucky) |
1. Workmen's Compensation. — Where there is any evidence of probative value to support Workmen's Compensation Board's finding, judgment affirming board's award thereon must be affirmed by Court of Appeals.
2. Evidence. — A physician may not testify as to history related by patient in examination held for sole purpose of qualifying physician to testify for patient, but where examination is conducted at adverse party's request, physician may consider such history as basis for opinion, since it is not "self-serving declaration" under such circumstances.
3. Workmen's Compensation. — A workman's compensation claimant's history, related by him to physicians examining claimant for purpose of testifying for employer, was competent to be used by physicians in arriving at opinion concerning claimant's disability.
4. Workmen's Compensation. — Evidence, held sufficient to support compensation board's findings of claimant's temporary total disability and permanent partial disability.
5. Evidence. — Any doctor of sufficient training and experience must be considered an expert on matters affecting disability of human bodies and minds.
6. Workmen's Compensation. — The Workmen's Compensation Board's finding, supported by sufficient medical testimony, on question of compensation claimant's disability, cannot be reversed by Court of Appeals because weight of evidence seems to it to be contrary to such finding.
7. Workmen's Compensation. — Evidence held sufficient to support Workmen's Compensation Board's finding that half of compensation claimant's disability was caused by disease existing before his injury.
8. Evidence. — It is matter of common knowledge that physicians practicing in coal mining districts of West Virginia are required to testify in many cases.
9. Workmen's Compensation. — An uneducated foreign-born workman's compensation claimant's testimony that physicians' depositions, introduced by employer, were never taken and were fraudulently prepared and inserted in record, held insufficient to warrant reversal of judgment affirming compensation board's award in unsatisfactory amount, in view of deponents' testimony that they believed depositions were taken and notary's testimony that his certification thereof was correct.
Appeal from Pike Circuit Court.
V.R. Bentley for appellant.
J.J. Moore for appellee.
Before R. Monroe Fields, Judge.
Affirming.
On July 17, 1937, appellant, John Kabai, was injured in a mine operated by the Majestic Colleries Company. While he was laboring in an attempt to lift slate from the floor of the mine, another piece of slate fell from the roof of the mine against the back of his head. His head was driven against the slate he was endeavoring to lift, smashing his nose and face; severely cutting him over the eye; and, it is claimed, causing a concussion of, and hemorrhages in, the brain. Claim was filed before the Compensation Board, and an opinion and order of the referee was entered. On appeal to this court the case was remanded, because the award was not a final order of the board or one of its members, but was a mere opinion of the referee. The opinion in that case may be found in 286 Ky. 279, 150 S.W. (2d) 898. After the case was remanded, additional testimony was taken and the case resubmitted to the referee, who found the claimant to have been totally disabled for a period of six weeks, two days and to be permanently partially disabled. Award was made accordingly, with an additional allowance for medical and hospital expenses in the sum of $200. This finding was approved by the board. On appeal to the circuit court the award was affirmed.
The sole question for our determination is whether there is any evidence of probative value to support the finding of the board. If this should be determined in the affirmative, we will be impelled to affirm the judgment. Mary Helen Coal Corporation v. Hensley, 237 Ky. 348, 35 S.W. (2d) 533; Wakenva Coal Company v. Combs, 232 Ky. 546, 24 S.W. (2d) 275; Wallins Creek Colliery Company v. Cole, 218 Ky. 116, 290 S.W. 1049.
Several doctors testified in behalf of defendant, after having examined the plaintiff for the purpose of giving their opinions in evidence. Each testified that in his opinion the claimant was not, at the time of trial, disabled to any extent, and three testified that they thought he was malingering. It is claimed that this evidence has no probative value because none of the doctors testifying for the defendant were skilled in mental afflictions, and none had an opportunity to observe the patient for a sufficient length of time to determine whether he had received internal injuries resulting in disability. It is further argued that the medical testimony introduced by the claimant was given by doctors skilled in diagnosis and treatment of mental...
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