192 Mich. 505 | Mich. | 1916
William Ramlow, husband of claimant, was an employee of the defendant Moon Lake Ice Company, of Grand Rapids. On June 3, 1914, while attempting to remove a burr from the axle of one of the company’s wagons, he slipped and fell, causing a severe fracture of two bones in his right leg just above the ankle. He was removed to the hospital, where the fracture was reduced and he was placed in bed. There was nothing unusual about his condition until the evening of June 5th, when he suffered an attack of delirium tremens, and died on the following morning. Application was made by the widow for an allowance, and the same was granted at the rate of $6.40 a week for 300 weeks.
1. Counsel for the ice and insurance companies contend that the award should not have been made, for the reason that the testimony shows that the attack of delirium tremens, and not the injury, was the proximate cause of his death. The record contains the testimony of four physicians, who appeared to be qualified to speak on such matters, and they gave it as their opinion that the attack of delirium tremens was caused by the injury; further, that it was not unusual for delirium tremens to develop about 60 hours after an injury, when the secondary shock sets in, with patients who had been in the habit of using alcoholic liquors. Two physicians who testified for the defendants dis
2. A further contention is made that the conduct of Ramlow was unreasonable, amounting to wilful and intentional misconduct within the meaning of section 2, pt. 2, of the compensation act (Act No. 10, Extra Session 1912 [2 Comp. Laws 1915, § 5432]). This is based upon the claim that deceased, when asked by his attending physician if he was an alcoholic, replied that he was not; that, had he answered truthfully that he was, the treatment would have been different, and the attack might have been averted. Touching the habit of deceased in this respect, his foreman testified that he had known deceased for 23 years, and that he had worked with him off and on for about 16 years, and that the deceased “used to take a drink once in a while, and sometimes quite often,” but that he never saw him In a state when he thought he had been drink
The award must be affirmed.