14 Pa. Commw. 454 | Pa. Commw. Ct. | 1974
Opinion by
Jose Hernandez (decedent) died on January 20, 1971, as the result of a ruptured cerebral aneurysm. His wife, Gloria E. Hernandez (claimant) filed a fatal claim petition seeking benefits pursuant to The Pennsylvania Workmen’s Compensation Act, Act of June 2, 1915, P. L. 736, as amended, 77 P.S. §1 et seq. Following a hearing, the referee found that the decedent had suffered an accident in the course of his employment with the Cole Steel Equipment Corporation (Cole), but that there was no causal connection be
On appeal to this Court in workmen’s compensation cases, where the decision of the fact finder was adverse to the party bearing the burden of proof (here the claimant), our scope of review is limited to a determination of whether or not constitutional rights were violated, an error of law was committed, or there has been a capricious disregard of competent evidence. And where, as here, the Board has taken no additional evidence, we must rely on the facts as found by the referee if he has not capriciously disregarded competent evidence in arriving at such facts. It is the province of the referee to consider the credibility of the witnesses. Canterna v. United States Steel and Workmen’s Compensation Appeal Board, 12 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. 579, 317 A. 2d 355 (1974).
The testimony herein indicates that the decedent was a relatively healthy man of 39 years of age on January 5, 1971, the date of the alleged accident. Jay Tyson, a fellow employee of the decedent, testified that while he was working he heard, but did not see, a piece of aluminum tubing fall to the floor. The tubing was six feet long and one and one half inches in diameter, weighed about six pounds and when last seen by Mr. Tyson, it was leaning against a pole. When Mr. Tyson turned to see what had happened, he noticed the dece
The claimant testified that, when the decedent arrived home that night, he told her that he had been struck on the head by a piece of pipe at work and that he had a slight headache. He worked the rest of the week but continually complained to the claimant of worsening headaches, and he finally went to see his family physician, Dr. E. Rivera, on January 9, 1971. Upon returning from his visit to Dr. Rivera, he was seized with pain and chills and became unresponsive to the claimant’s questionig. He was taken to the hospital on January 10, 1971, immediately lapsed into a coma from which he never recovered, and died ten days later.
It would appear to us that there was substantial competent evidence here to permit the referee to find, as he did, that the decedent had suffered an accident. The history of the event given by the decedent to Dr. Eivera, when viewed in conjunction with the circumstantial evidence provided by Mr. Tyson and by the claimant, is sufficient to establish the occurrence of the accident. See Cody v. S.K.F. Industries, Inc., 447 Pa. 558, 291 A. 2d 772 (1972); Czanker v. Sky Top Lodge, Inc. and Workmen’s Compensation Appeal Board, 13 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. 220, 318 A. 2d 379 (1974).
We confront a more difficult problem on the issue of causation. The claimant presented two medical witnesses to support her position. Dr. Eivera testified that the ruptured aneurysm “was secondary to the injury to the forehead.” He noted as significant that the dece
Cole presented the testimony of Dr. C. Bendersky, an internist with a specialty in cardiovascular diseases. Although he had not treated the decedent, he had reviewed the hospital record including the autopsy report. He testified that, assuming the decedent had suffered a laceration over the left eye, and had begun suffering headaches that night and twenty days later had died from a ruptured aneurysm, there was “not any relationship between the trauma and the subsequent intercerebral bleeding.” He reached this conclusion because he believed that the blow suffered by the decedent did not knock him down or render him immediately unconsicous and it caused no trauma to the skull or to the brain. In his opinion only a blow of such proportions would have been sufficient to rupture the aneurysm. Instead he found evidence in the autopsy report to indicate that the rupture came about naturally as a result of arteriosclerosis.
For the above reasons, therefore, we issue the following
Order
Now, July 24, 1974, the order of the Workmen’s Compensation Appeal Board is reversed and the claim of Gloria E. Hernandez is hereby dismissed.