Wilson v. ANR Freight Systems, Inc.

892 S.W.2d 658, 1994 WL 678732
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedJanuary 26, 1995
DocketWD 48474
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 892 S.W.2d 658 (Wilson v. ANR Freight Systems, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Wilson v. ANR Freight Systems, Inc., 892 S.W.2d 658, 1994 WL 678732 (Mo. Ct. App. 1995).

Opinions

HANNA, Presiding Judge.

The claimant, Floyd Wilson, appeals the decision of the Labor and Industrial Relations Commission (Commission), wMch found that he was not entitled to receive workers’ compensation benefits for an acute myocardial infarction suffered while he was working. The claimant argues that the Commission’s decision was not based on competent and substantial evidence, and was against the weight of the evidence. He further asks tMs court to consider two articles published in The New England Journal of Medicine as newly discovered evidence.

On July 25, 1990, claimant, employed by ANR Freight Systems, went to the Hillyard Chemical Company in St. Joseph, Missouri, to pick up a load of freight, weighing approximately 13,000 pounds. Since Hillyard was a new customer, claimant wanted to fimsh the job quickly in order to make a good first impression. The ambient temperature was 85 degrees, and claimant estimated that it was about 30 degrees hotter inside the truck.

While loading the freight, the claimant began to experience angina-type pain, with associated jaw and chest discomfort. He finished loading the truck and went to his next destination. When Ms symptoms did not improve, he went to Heartland East Hospital in St. Joseph, where he was admitted and treated by Dr. StaMey Crie. As part of his medical history, claimant told the doctor at the Heartland East Hospital that the day before he had experienced jaw discomfort. Two days later, claimant was transferred to North Kansas City Hospital, where he was under the care of Dr. John Miller.

There is no dispute that the claimant suffered an acute myocardial infarction. The issue litigated at trial was whether the claimant’s heart attack was causally connected to Ms work related activities on that day. The ALJ made the followmg finding, which was adopted by the Commission:

I find after careful review of all the evidence and testimony provided that the myocardial infarction which the claimant suffered on July 25, 1990, was not triggered, induced or precipitated by the claimant’s work activities of July 25, 1990, and therefore not compensable under the Missouri Workers’ Compensation Act. I make this finding after careful consideration of all the medical expert testimony regarding causation of heart attacks and also in light of the current status of the Missouri Law on their compensability.

In Ms first three pomts, the claimant argues that the Commission’s decision is not supported by substantial and competent evidence. He complains that the testimony of expert witnesses Bell and Crie amounted to incompetent evidence, and argues that the findings of fact and the award are “based on suspicion and conjecture.”

When reviewmg the decision of the Commission, we examine the evidence in the light most favorable to the findings of the Commission and its decision, accepting all reasonable inferences therefrom and disregarding all unfavorable evidence. Reves v. Kindell’s Mercantile Co., Inc., 793 S.W.2d 917, 919 (Mo.App.1990). The Commission’s decision may be set aside only if there is no substantial evidence to support it or if it is clearly contrary to the overwhelming weight of the evidence. Jones v. Jefferson City Sch. Dist., 801 S.W.2d 486, 488 (Mo.App.1990). We will not substitute our judgment for that of the Commission, even if we would have made a different mitial conclusion. Lawson v. Emerson Elec. Co., 833 S.W.2d 467, 471 (Mo.App.1992). The Commission is the sole [661]*661judge of witness credibility and the weight and value of the evidence. Id. at 470-71.

The issue in dispute in this case was causation. The Missouri Supreme Court, in Wynn v. Navajo Freight Lines, Inc., 654 S.W.2d 87 (Mo. banc 1988), set out the standard by which heart attack cases are deemed to be compensable in Missouri:

[T]he right to compensation should exist if the actual triggering causes are found, on the basis of substantial evidence, to meet the “job related” or “work related” test of Wolfgeher.

Id. at 89-90 (citing Wolfgeher v. Wagner Cartage Serv., Inc., 646 S.W.2d 781 (Mo. banc 1983)). Expert medical testimony was provided by three board certified cardiologists. All three physicians agreed that the claimant’s medical history contained several factors which placed him in a high risk category for a heart attack. These include: (1) hypertension; (2) high cholesterol; (3) smoking a pack a day for thirty years; and (4) a family history of heart disease, including a father who died of a heart attack at age 49. The evidence is undisputed that these factors contributed to his heart attack.

The evidence was conflicting, however, with regard to whether heavy physical exertion triggered or precipitated the claimant’s myocardial infarction. Dr. John Miller, the claimant’s treating physician in North Kansas City, testified that it was his opinion that the claimant’s strenuous work activities on July 25, 1990, triggered his heart attack. The claimant also questioned expert witnesses, Drs. Bell and Crie, about several articles from medical treatises which stated that heavy physical exertion may induce myocardial infarctions.

Dr. Hubert Bell testified for the employer that the work performed by claimant was not a precipitating factor. Acknowledging that heavy physical exertion may, on occasion, cause heart attacks, he testified that he did not believe this to be the case with claimant. Dr. Bell stated that the angina-like jaw pain experienced by the claimant the day before his myocardial infarction made it more likely that the claimant’s heart attack was caused by a blood clot which had formed over time.

Dr. Stanley Crie, who was the claimant’s treating physician during the critical first two days at Heartland East Hospital, testified that although some experts in the field do believe that, on occasion, strenuous physical activities may cause myocardial infarc-tions, most people who have myocardial in-farctions have them without physical exertion. Dr. Crie stated that he could not say, to a reasonable degree of medical certainty, whether or not a cause and effect relationship existed between the claimant’s physical exertion and his heart attack. However, citing the jaw pain, indicative of angina, experienced by the claimant the day before his heart attack, it was his opinion that the work conditions did not cause the attack.

Both Drs. Bell and Críe testified on cross examination concerning three articles in medical treatises which linked heavy physical exertion and myocardial infarctions. Regarding Braunwald’s textbook, Heart Disease, the doctors agreed with the text which stated that 13% of heart attack victims were engaged in heavy physical exertion at the onset of the infarction. The article continued to say that there is suggestive evidence that heavy exercise may play a precipitating role in some patients. Another textbook, The Heart, used during the doctors’ cross-examination, states that a single episode of physical stress in individuals prone to heart attacks may trigger infarctions. It further stated that the shorter the time interval between the exercise and the myocardial infarction, the more likely there is a causal relationship. Finally, Dr. Crie testified from an article in

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892 S.W.2d 658, 1994 WL 678732, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wilson-v-anr-freight-systems-inc-moctapp-1995.