 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Employee Leasing Services in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Cipicchio v. Workers' Compensation Appeal Board2/13/2002
SUBMITTED: February 16, 2001
OPINION NOT REPORTED
Albert Cipicchio appeals from the order of the Workers' Compensation Appeal Board (Board) that affirmed the Workers' Compensation Judge's (WCJ) denial of Cipicchio's claim petition alleging disability due to occupational coronary artery disease. We affirm.
Cipicchio filed his claim petition under Section 108(o) of the Workers' Compensation Act (Act). Section 108(o) of the Act states that the term occupational disease includes:
Diseases of the heart and lungs, resulting in either temporary or permanent total or partial disability or death, after four years or more of service in fire fighting for the benefit of or safety of the public, caused by extreme over-exertion in times of stress or danger or by exposure to heat, smoke, fumes or gasses, arising directly out of the employment of any such fireman.
Section 301(e) of the Act, 77 P.S. ยง 413, provides that:
If it be shown that the employe, at or immediately before the date of disability, was employed in any occupation or industry in which the occupational disease is a hazard, it shall be presumed that the employe's occupational disease arose out of and in the course of his employment, but this presumption shall not be conclusive.
In his claim petition, Cipicchio alleged that he contracted disabling coronary artery disease on May 24, 1991, in the course of his employment for the City of McKeesport (employer). Cipicchio testified before the WCJ that he was a fire fighter for employer for approximately 30 years. He regularly worked two 24- hour shifts per week, during which he answered two to three calls per shift. While many of these calls involved smoke and soot-producing fires, neither Cipicchio nor his co-workers used respirators when responding to a call. Consequently, Cipicchio often required oxygen assistance, and routinely coughed, spit, and vomited blackened material for two to three days after fighting a fire. Each significant smoke exposure also left Cipicchio with a heavy sensation in his chest that continued for several days.
Cipicchio testified that he physically exerted himself while responding to a fire on May 23, 1991. After extinguishing the fire, Cipicchio noticed a greater- than-usual heaviness in his chest. The next morning, after his shift had ended, Cipicchio suffered arm and chest pains while performing light housework. Upon arriving at the hospital, doctors diagnosed Cipicchio as having suffered a heart attack. After a catherization revealed coronary artery disease, he underwent an angioplasty. Following recovery, doctors released Cipicchio to light-duty work. Because employer did not make light-duty work available to him, Cipicchio retired in January of 1992.
Cipicchio further testified that two of his brothers died of coronary heart disease at the ages of 46 and 53, respectively, and that Cipicchio regularly smoked one pack of cigarettes per day from approximately 1955 until the date of his 1991 injury.
To support his claim petition, Cipicchio also presented the testimony of Marc Laufe, M.D. Dr. Laufe stated that fire fighters are commonly exposed to occupational hazards that can lead to coronary artery disease, and that Cipicchio's fire fighting caused his coronary artery disease. The WCJ found that Dr. Laufe's testimony was not credible, however, because Dr. Laufe admitted on cross- examination that his opinion that fire fighting is a cause of coronary artery disease is unsupported by medical literature.
The WCJ did find the testimony of employer's medical expert, Dr. Larry E. Hurwitz, M.D., to be credible. After physically examining Cipicchi
Page 1 2 3 Pennsylvania Employee Leasing Services
Employee Leasing Services
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Employee Leasing Services in your area.
|
|