Walker v. Ribicoff

213 F. Supp. 32, 1962 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3279
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Ohio
DecidedOctober 19, 1962
DocketCiv. A. No. 35749
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 213 F. Supp. 32 (Walker v. Ribicoff) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Ohio primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Walker v. Ribicoff, 213 F. Supp. 32, 1962 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3279 (N.D. Ohio 1962).

Opinion

KALBFLEISCH, District Judge.

This is a review of the final decision of the Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare that the plaintiff is not entitled to the establishment of a period of disability nor to disability insurance benefits under Title 42 U.S.C.A, §§ 416(i) and 423. Both the plaintiff and the Government have moved for summary judgment.

The hearing before the examiner was conducted on April 29, 1959. The last medical exhibit appearing in the file is dated April 30,1959. The plaintiff’s petition was filed in this Court on November 21, 1959, and the Government’s answer bears the date of March 16, 1960. The case was not prosecuted further until May [34]*34of 1962 when the plaintiff moved for summary judgment.

The following information has been obtained from a careful study of the record and was before the hearing examiner, whose decision refusing the request for a disability period and disability payments was adopted by the Appeals Council.

The applicant was born in 1900. He has a seventh grade education. For some thirty years prior to 1955 he had been employed as an electrician by the Westinghouse Company. On March 29, 1955, he was exposed to a massive injestion of carbon tetrachloride, and thereafter was under the care of Dr. Charles W. Brown. He had continued to visit Dr. Brown at least once every two weeks until April of 1959, when the medical file ends.

The applicant continued his work from the time of the accident on March 29, 1955, until July 7 of that year, when he was ordered by a physician to quit. The record shows that the work he was doing during this period was of an unusually light nature.

In August of 1956 the applicant was hospitalized for three days. The hospital’s diagnosis indicated the patient was suffering from arthritis, recurrent sinus tachycardia, anxiety state, recurrent hepatitis, and spastic bowel. Under the heading “History of Present Illness,” the record states: “ * * * apprehensive since he fell into carbon tet one & half years ago. Repeated sinus tachycardia attacks with pulse 140-180. Attacks of weakness, poor sleep and considerable weight loss.”

In March of 1957 the applicant was again admitted to the hospital, this time for four days. The diagnosis was anxiety tension and paroxysmal auricular tachycardia. On December 17, 1956, February 17, 1957, May 6, 1958, and December 7, 1958, he was given emergency room treatment at the hospital. On each of the occasions the diagnosis was sinus tachycardia.

There are five reports from the applicant’s physician, Dr. Charles W. Brown, the first dated December 18, 1956, and the last dated April 30,1959. In the first report Dr. Brown stated that the present illness first occurred about two years before that date, and the applicant became unable to work in April of 1955. (It should be noted that he had continued to be employed until July of 1955. The applicant stated that the position required no real effort. “All I did was go around with the men and told them what to do.” (Tr., p. 039.) On the instructions of a Dr. Biddle, since deceased, the applicant quit work on July 7, 1955, and has not been employed since. (Tr. 040.))

The first report reveals that the applicant was at that time suffering from weakness, arthritis, liver disease and sinus tachyeardiá. He was ambulatory and partially house confined. The condition was considered static, and Dr. Brown had advised the patient not to work. The functional capacity of his heart was listed as a Class 3 (marked limitation). There was dyspnea on slight and moderate exertion. There were attacks of sinus tachycardia every few weeks.

The next report from Dr. Brown was dated May 29, 1957. It comments that there was a liver enlargement, but no heart enlargement. There was slight dyspnea on slight exertion and moderate dyspnea on moderate exertion. There were recurrent sinus tachycardia attacks every three to four months. The diagnosis was sinus tachycardia, recurrent hepatitis and enuritis.

On May 13,1958, a claims examiner reported having had a conversation with Dr. Brown. That report states that Dr. Brown believed the prime reason for the patient’s cessation of work was the carbon tetrachloride accident:

“As a result the W/E has ‘some liver damage’ and episodes of tachycardia requiring hospitalization. W/E is treated with ‘liver medicine' and digitalis during acute episodes of tachycardia, maintained on quini-dine. As long as the W/E takes his quinidine regularly he is O.K. but if he runs out or laxes on taking it, he gets into difficulty.
[35]*35“The doctor stated one of the main reasons the W/E is not working now is ‘fear,’ although his general health is very poor.
“He is unable to return to his job at Westinghouse, but Dr. says he could do light work such as watchman’s job.”

(On April 30, 1959, about a year later, Dr. Brown wrote that taking quinidine, three grams twice a day, “definitely cut down on the frequency and severity of [the patient’s] sinus tachycardia.” (Emphasis added.) He did not then say that the drugs made the patient “O.K.” In fact, one month after the examiner’s report, Dr. Brown stated that severe attacks were then occurring six to ten times a year, instead of once every three or four months as had been the case in 1957.)

The third report from Dr. Brown was dated June 18, 1958. It mentioned sinus tachycardia attacks with a pulse rate of 160-180. The doctor again classed his heart condition as Class 3 (marked limitation) and commented that six to ten times a year he had severe sinus tachycardia attacks. The report dated April 13, 1959, indicates that the attacks were now occurring once a month. There was also atrophy of the liver. There was no response to therapy. The patient’s condition was static, without improvement, and he was adjudged unable to work. Under the heading “Remarks” the doctor said the patient was “100% disabled to ever holding [sic] a job.” The other conditions mentioned in the previous reports also continued.

Another doctor who examined the patient was P. J. Heringhaus. His first report was dated July 19, 1957. In it he stated that the patient’s heart was of normal size and shape with a regular rhythm and no abnormal sounds. An electrocardiogram gave a normal report. A chest X-ray showed evidence of emphysema and chronic bronchitis, with a normal sized ■ heart. An X-ray of the gastrointestinal tract and gall bladder indicated they were normal. Laboratory tests were normal. There was dyspnea on slight exertion. The patient had “1. Severe anxiety tension state and 2. attacks of paroxysmal auricular tachycardia.” The report stated that Dr. Heringhaus had not advised the patient not to work.

A second report from Dr. Heringhaus on June 15, 1958, stated that the patient’s condition was static. “This man will probably not be any better ever. He has a severe anxiety neurosis plus paroxysmal tachycardia.” It again commented that the doctor had not advised the patient not to work. It suggested that his heart condition was a Class 2 limitation (slight limitation), rather than a Class 3 as diagnosed by Dr. Brown.

The last report from Dr. Heringhaus was dated April 2,1959. It reported that an EKG was normal. The patient suffered from weakness, heart pounding, attacks of tachycardia of 160-180 beats per minute. It commented that the patient “can’t do much in way of work.” Under “Remarks” the doctor commented, “Patient disabled mainly because of chronic anxiety and tension.

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Bluebook (online)
213 F. Supp. 32, 1962 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3279, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/walker-v-ribicoff-ohnd-1962.