Continental Insurance Company v. Marshall

506 S.W.2d 913
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMarch 27, 1974
Docket6357
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 506 S.W.2d 913 (Continental Insurance Company v. Marshall) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Continental Insurance Company v. Marshall, 506 S.W.2d 913 (Tex. Ct. App. 1974).

Opinion

OPINION

OSBORN, Justice.

This is a workmen’s compensation case in which the Appellee, a widow, recovered death benefits. The jury found that Mrs. Marshall’s husband, John Thurston Marshall, had a heart attack on December 22, 1970, which occurred in the course of his employment by Atlantic Richfield Company and that the heart attack was a producing cause of his death. The jury also found that the heart attack was not caused solely by preexisting heart disease. We affirm the judgment of the trial Court.

Mr. Marshall, who was fifty-nine years old at his death, had worked for Atlantic Richfield Company since February, 1944. He was a pump station operator in Gaines County at the time of his death. His duties consisted of operating equipment to receive oil at the station and then pumping it from storage tanks into other lines to be transferred to another storage area. His work included normal maintenance around the station, checking gauges and opening and closing valves to control the flow of oil.

In 1958, Mr. Marshall had a heart attack which caused him to be hospitalized twenty-three days and off from work thirteen weeks. He continued to take a blood thinner and tranquilizers from 1958 until his death, and always carried nitroglycerin tablets with him. According to the hospital records in February, 1969, he seemed to black out or pass out while pulling on a 12" gate valve with considerable force to open it. He was diagnosed as having postural hypotension, with no acute cardiovascular problem.

On December 22, 1970, Mr. Marshall went to work at approximately 3:00 P.M. and had talked to his wife, apparently by telephone, at about 7:30 P.M. and he was feeling fine. When his relief operator came on duty about 10:30 P.M. he found Mr. Marshall lying next to a gate valve beside one of the storage tanks. The valve was partially opened and Mr. Marshall was dead. The evidence, including pictures, established that the oil tanks were enclosed by a mound of dirt about 4' or 5' high which served as a fire wall. There were nine concrete steps up the walkway to the top of the fire wall and then steps down into the area where the tank was located. The valve next to which Mr. Marshall was found had a “cheater pipe” laying beside it for use when needed in opening the valve, but there was no indication it had been used on this occasion.

Vernon McQuerry, the operator who found Mr. Marshall, and the only plant employee to testify, said that in switching tanks it was necessary to open two gate valves and close two other gate valves. He stated this involves turning a wheel with your hands and normally this was an easy task but sometimes it was hard when there was pressure on the valve. He also said the “cheater pipe” might be needed to crack the valve out of the seat or gate, but ordinarily the valve was easy to open.

The Appellee also presented the testimony of two doctors. Dr. Dow, the Mar-shalls’ family physician, said the deceased had a myocardial infarction in 1958 which he attributed to arteriosclerosis. This caused some damage to the heart. Subsequent *915 ly he released the patient to return to work, but cautioned him about exertion or any undue work load. He described his treatment after the blackout incident while opening a valve in 1969 and gave the following testimony:

“Q All right. Now, Doctor, would ordinarily — ordinarily would the fact that Mr. Marshall had been opening this gate at the refinery and had been a heart patient of yours before, would it cause you to be suspicious that the exertion of opening the gate might have brought about another heart attack?
A Yes.
Q All right. Doctor, would a patient who suffered from heart damage by myocardial infarction be more apt or more — would he be a greater risk at having another heart attack brought upon by exertion than a person who had never had a heart attack ?
A I think so.”

But he ultimately concluded that without an autopsy his opinion as to the cause of death would be pure speculation.

Dr. Inayat Ibahim Lalani, a Board certified surgeon, testified in answer to a hypothetical question, that in his opinion Mr. Marshall “ * * * died of another attack of myocardial infarction brought on by the exertion of his job.” He acknowledged that he was aware of the stairs the deceased crossed to reach the tank and had seen pictures of the valves that would be opened at the plant. On cross-examination the doctor said that he had assumed in the hypothetical question that opening the valve required a considerable amount of muscular exertion, although that fact was not actually included in the question, and no proof was made of that fact. His testimony was then developed as follows:

“Q As a matter of fact, if it should turn out, however, that all he did was open a valve that was easy to turn, just a matter of twisting your fingers, that wouldn’t have caused his heart attack?
A If it was that easy it probably wouldn’t. But it still would have taxed his heart more than walking on level ground in taking these steps and then opening the valve. It is a matter of degrees.
Q You saw the steps. He did this sort of work for twelve years after that first attack. Does that indicate to you that probably, in all probability, this was not excessive stress and strain ?
A During those twelve years the arterial system of the heart may have deteriorated. That is one possibility.
Q As a matter of fact, it is likely, isn’t it, that if a man has had a heart attack, and he has taken medicine all this time, the likelihood is that somewhere down the line he is going to have that second one and he won’t recover from it, isn’t that a real likelihood?
A Yes. But the question is in all probability what brought on his death. I am saying the exertion that he had — had to have would — would be in most probability be the — the possibility — be the cause over and above —attributing to his preexisting cardiovascular disease. That is all I am trying to say.
Q Are you telling the jury that he probably would not have had a heart attack if he hadn’t walked up those stairs that day?
A He would be less likely to die.
* * * * * *
Q * * * Are you telling the jury that if he hadn’t opened that valve that night he probably would not have had that heart attack?
A Statistically, now — Only statistically, now, anything could have hap *916 pened. Most probability his death was contributed to by the exertion he had. So, if he had the night off and sitting in his living' room and reading a newspaper he would be less likely to suffer a myocardial infarction.”

The Appellate did not present any witnesses, and the case was closed after the Plaintiff-Appellee rested.

By its first four points of error the Appellant contends that the trial Court erred in admitting into evidence the opinion testimony of Dr. Lalani that Mr.

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Bluebook (online)
506 S.W.2d 913, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/continental-insurance-company-v-marshall-texapp-1974.