Quail v. Industrial Accident Commission

THOMPSON, J. By means of certiorari the petitioner seeks to review the findings of the Industrial Accident Commission to the effect that her husband, Frank E. Quail, who died while he was employed in the state highway division, did not die as a result of injuries sustained from an accident occurring in the course of his employment. Compensation was denied.

The deceased was sixty-five years of age. He was five feet eleven inches tall and weighed 190 pounds. For five years he had been employed by the State of California as assistant highway maintenance engineer. March 9, 1933, he drove an automobile in the course of his employment from Sacramento to Donner Lake over the Sierra Nevadas. On this journey he reached an elevation of 7,500 feet. Upon his return that day, after passing the summit, an accident occurred. The car left the highway and turned over. It rested upon its left side at a point about eight feet from the highway. Mr. Quail, apparently uninjured, climbed out over the door, and, securing the aid of a passing truck, they hauled the car back on to the highway. It was slightly damaged, but he was able to drive the machine on its own power. He returned to Auburn that night, where he remained in the hotel. .He claimed to have been unable to sleep that night on account of the pounding of his heart. The following day he returned to Sacramento and reported the accident. Feeling unwell, upon the advice of his superior officer, Dennis, he drove home to Stockton. He reclined upon a bed during the afternoon, complaining of difficulty in breathing.

Dr. H. S. Chapman, the family physician, was called about 5 o’clock that day. He reported finding the patient restless, with ashen-colored face. He was breathing hard and fast. He complained of pain in the right chest. He had a sense of impending death. It appears from the record that on March 1st, which was eight days before the accident occurred, Mr. Quail suffered an acute attack of epigastric pain. He then visited a doctor for medical aid." From that date to the time of his death he suffered a recurrence of such pains, together with nausea, vomiting and constipation. He also had acute precordial pains and pains in the back and beneath the scapulae. These are symptoms of the heart [414]trouble which resulted in his subsequent death. After examining the patient the doctor found no external bruises, contusions or apparent injuries as a result of the automobile accident, but discovered that he had dilated pupils of the eyes, a pulse beat of 170, Affiliation and dilation, together with murmuring of the heart. He sent the patient to bed and prescribed medicine for his condition. At 7 o’clock that night Mr. Quail died as a result of what the doctor diagnosed as coronary occlusion. The doctor performed an autopsy and reported that he discovered an enlarged heart with a very sclerotic condition of the coronary arteries. His testimony contains the following expert medical opinion regarding the cause of death, “I believe that death in this case was due to coronary occlusion. Had he been put to bed at absolute rest on March 1st, his life might have been prolonged. The (automobile) accident was only a coincident and I believe had little or nothing to do with his demise. ’ ’