Simpson v. H.D. Lee Co.
| Decision Date | 23 July 1990 |
| Docket Number | No. 89-67-I,89-67-I |
| Citation | 793 S.W.2d 929 |
| Court | Tennessee Supreme Court |
| Parties | Mary Suzanne SIMPSON, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. H.D. LEE COMPANY and Aetna Casualty and Surety Company, Defendants-Appellees. 793 S.W.2d 929 |
Raymond W. Fraley, Jr., Fayetteville, for plaintiff-appellant.
William S. Russell, Russell & Russell, Shelbyville, for defendants-appellees.
In this workers' compensation case the Plaintiff appeals the judgment of the Chancellor denying her benefits for the death of her husband. Plaintiff's husband strained his back in the course and scope of his employment and died three days later of an overdose of acetaminophen, one of the ingredients of two pain medications the doctor prescribed to relieve the back pain. Plaintiff argues on appeal that the evidence preponderates against the Chancellor's finding that her husband's death was not causally related to his employment. For the following reasons, we affirm the Chancellor's judgment.
On July 29, 1985, Plaintiff's husband, Dennis Simpson, hurt his back while working for the Defendant, H.D. Lee Company. It is uncontested that this injury occurred within the course and scope of Simpson's employment. The company nurse referred Simpson to Dr. Gilbert Aust, an orthopedic surgeon in Huntsville, Alabama. Dr. Aust examined Simpson that same day, diagnosed his injury as a mild lumbar sprain, and wrote out a prescription for 24 Tylenol # 3 pain tablets. On July 30, 1985, Simpson returned to Dr. Aust's office for therapy. At that time, he complained that the Tylenol # 3 made him sick, and Dr. Aust called in a prescription for 24 Lortab 7 pain tablets to replace the original Tylenol # 3 prescription.
After Simpson returned to his home in Fayetteville, he decided to visit a friend, Mike Ivey, who lived about 30 miles away. Simpson spent the evening visiting and drinking beer with friends at Ivey's house. During the evening Simpson called home and told his wife that he was going to spend the night at Ivey's. According to his friends at Ivey's house that night, Simpson went to sleep on the couch sometime between 11:30-12:30 p.m. When Mike Ivey got up to go to the bathroom around 5:00 a.m. he heard Simpson snoring. When Ivey got up later in the morning, however, he got no response when he tried to awaken Simpson. A prescription bottle with 7 Lortabs remaining was lying beside Simpson. Mike Ivey called an ambulance, which transported Simpson to Lincoln Regional Hospital, where resuscitation attempts were unsuccessful.
Dr. Harold Ferrell, a Maury County pathologist, conducted an autopsy. According to Dr. Ferrell, the cause of death was respiratory depression, which was possibly the result of a drug overdose. Plaintiff's expert witness, Dr. Josefino Aguilar, and Defendant's expert witness, Dr. Charles Harlan, both agree that Simpson died of an acetaminophen overdose, as Simpson's post-mortum acetaminophen level was 21 milligrams percent, and an acetaminophen level of 15 to 16 milligrams percent is lethal.
Plaintiff's theory was that Simpson's death from acetominophen overdose resulted from taking prescribed medication according to directions. Because the medication was prescribed for Simpson's work-related back injury, Plaintiff insisted that her husband's death was causally related to his employment. Both the Plaintiff and the Defendant filed motions for summary judgment, which the Chancellor denied. By agreement, the parties then submitted the case for decision without a hearing. After considering all the motions, depositions, pleadings, affidavits, medical records, and the entire record, the Chancellor found that the Plaintiff had failed to carry her burden of proof, and awarded judgment to Defendant.
The sole issue on appeal is whether the evidence preponderates against the Chancellor's finding that there was no...
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