Long v. SAIF Corp.

372 P.3d 610, 278 Or. App. 88
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedMay 4, 2016
Docket1201992; A156417
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 372 P.3d 610 (Long v. SAIF Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Oregon primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Long v. SAIF Corp., 372 P.3d 610, 278 Or. App. 88 (Or. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

EGAN, J.

Claimant, the surviving spouse and statutory beneficiary of the deceased worker, Everett Long, seeks review of an order of the Workers’ Compensation Board. The board affirmed a denial of Long’s cardiac arrest claim, concluding that the medical evidence was not sufficient to establish that Long’s employment conditions were the major contributing cause of his heart condition and that there was not clear and convincing evidence that the decedent’s cardiac arrest arose out of and in the course and scope of employment in accordance with ORS 656.802(3)(d). Claimant argues that the opinion of SAIF’s medical records reviewer was flawed and therefore the board’s order lacks substantial reason. SAIF responds that the board properly evaluated the medical evidence and that there is substantial evidence to support the board’s conclusion. The underlying facts are undisputed. We affirm.

We take the facts from the administrative law judge’s (AL J) findings as supplemented by the board. Long was 70 years old and had been working for the employer, Thomsen Orchards, Inc., for 35 years. On the day of his cardiac arrest, Long’s coworker, Elisea, was cutting limbs on trees and pushing those limbs into a burn pile that rose about 15 feet in the air. While Elisea refueled his pruning implement, Long and Sandoval, another coworker, pulled up in a golf cart. Sandoval began cutting high branches and Long started pushing the branches into the pile with a tractor. Long expressed concern to Sandoval that the tractor had become stuck close to the fire and it might burn. Long was excited. He raised his voice and waved his arms. The workers drove the golf cart to retrieve a truck and some rope.

Sandoval mounted the tractor, Long pulled a Caterpillar into position, and Elisea secured the rope to the tractor and the Caterpillar. They pulled the tractor out of its mire. The men returned to work. Long again drove the tractor. Elisea, Sandoval, and the other coworker continued to prune the trees. Elisea looked down from the branches of the tree he was pruning and saw the tractor pinned on a tree, jumping as its wheels continued to turn. Sandoval was pointing at the tractor. Elisea dropped his pruner and [90]*90ran to the scene. He turned the tractor off and then noticed Long laying face down on the ground. He yelled for help and called 9-1-1.

When the emergency crew arrived on the scene, Long was in ventricular fibrillation. The EMT’s administered a shock and restored Long’s heart beat. When Long was admitted to the intensive care unit at St. Charles Medical Center in Bend (St. Charles), a doctor noted a diagnosis of cardiac arrest with syncope and secondary coma due to anoxic encephalopathy. The deprivation of oxygen to Long’s brain had been so significant that there was little likelihood that he could recover from the neurological damage and he was suffering almost constant brain seizures. Long passed away in the hospital a little over a week later.

Dr. Semler, a cardiologist, completed a records review at the request of SAIF. He used the diagnosis of ventricular fibrillation and elevated troponins to explain that the cause of the event was myocardial infarction or a heart attack as evinced by the elevated troponins, as well as arterial sclerotic disease. Semler explained that this was not a combined condition because the work incident was not even a material contributing factor in the cardiac event. In other words, work-related activities did not contribute to the condition.

A medical legal consultant, Wilson, testified on behalf of Long. Wilson had been previously licensed as an emergency medical technician and had trained as a physician’s assistant. Wilson acknowledged Long’s risk factors of coronary artery disease, smoking, hypertension, hypercho-lesterolemia, carotid artery disease, and peripheral vascular disease. He also agreed that hypertension, smoking, and peripheral vascular disease would contribute to a cardiac event. However, Wilson opined that emotional distress was a “material contributing factor” to Long’s cardiac arrest, concluding that Long’s preexisting conditions combined with the inhalation of smoke and the emotional stress of the events to trigger Long’s cardiac arrest and sudden death.

In his report, Wilson also noted that it is a “reasonable hypothesis” that Long’s death was precipitated by [91]*91an inhalation injury, which caused him to become lightheaded or lose consciousness before hitting the tree with the tractor and falling face down on the ground, and that his subsequent cardiac arrest was caused by asphyxia. Wilson also noted that Semler had not considered Wilson’s theory of hypoxia-induced ventricular fibrillation secondary to inhaling the smoke of the burn pile. He added that there was no documentation that Long had coronary artery disease, despite its common association with peripheral artery disease. He also pointed out that an x-ray report from St. Charles noted “L(effc) basilar opacification * * * may be due to infiltrate or aterlectasis.” He explained that this finding is associated with inhalation injuries. Finally, Wilson highlighted Semler’s note that nothing unusual occurred that day and contrasted Semler’s history with the incident with the tractor at the burn pile.

Dr. Li, the staff pathologist for Providence St. Vincent Medical Center, performed a records review for Long’s counsel and opined that Long suffered a fatal arrhythmia which led to anoxic brain injury. She said that the event was caused by hypertensive and arteriosclerotic vascular disease. Although she agreed with Wilson that coronary artery disease had not been documented, she concurred with Semler that Long suffered concurrent coronary artery disease given that he had severe peripheral vascular disease, including carotid artery stenosis. Li agreed that myocardial eschemia could be assumed but she also noted that it could have been a fatal arrhythmia. Without an examination of the tissue for necrosis, that determination could not be made. Li opined that it was possible that Long suffered an inhalation injury if he had been exposed to carbon monoxide. She said that his status as an ex-smoker made him vulnerable to this injury so that the attempt to remove the tractor could have triggered a fatal arrhythmia.

Semler reviewed the reports of the other experts and explained that Long’s medical treatments prior to the cardiac arrest at issue in this case had not cured the hyper-lipidemia and arthrosclerosis. Given all of Long’s prior treatment and tests, Semler was “virtually positive” Long had coronary artery disease. He concluded that the major [92]*92contributing cause of Long’s condition was his preexisting condition. Finally, he opined that Long was an excitable person. Semler simply disagreed that this particular worker would have suffered ventricular fibrillation due to sudden emotional distress relating to the tractor incident.

Finally, Dr. Banitt, a cardiologist, completed a records review for Long on February 12, 2013. Banitt acknowledged Long’s risk factors of hypertension, history of tobacco use, and unfavorable lipid profile but he explained that atherosclerosis in some arteries does not necessarily mean that it is a systemic condition that effects all arteries. Because Long did not complain of chest pain, Banitt disputed that coronary artery disease or myocardial infarction caused his death.

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Bluebook (online)
372 P.3d 610, 278 Or. App. 88, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/long-v-saif-corp-orctapp-2016.