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Injuries from falls caused by fits, vertigo or other like causes

he discontinued work. A physician's examination showed the fracture and he was provided with medical attention and was paid compensation. Subsequently, he returned to work and made a demand for the payment of doctor bills presented by other physicians outside the employ of the defendant company. This case presented a difficult situation, inasmuch as the applicant and his friends firmly believed that the cave-in and the fractured rib caused a tubercular condition, and a claim was made for compensation accordingly. Held that the great preponderance of medical testimony (eight doctors examined applicant) showed that there was no connection between the fractured rib and the subsequent illness, and awarded applicant $26.37 additional compensation, the same being the unpaid balance of the total sum of $40.83 due. Pendo v. Mammoth Copper Mining Co., Cal. Indus. Acc. Bd., May 20, 1913.

Applicant contracted a bone felon on the thumb of his right hand and was disabled for six weeks. He claimed that the felon resulted from the dropping of a 100-lb bolt or rod upon his thumb. Held that the burden of proof is upon the applicant to establish the facts and that in this case the evidence was conflicting and inconclusive, and therefore compensation was denied. Giandini v. General Construction

Co., Cal. Indus. Acc. Bd., May 17, 1913.

9. Injuries from falls caused by fits, vertigo or other like

causes.

Disability resulting from disease directly due to a physical injury of an accidental nature, or lighted up thereby, is an injury within the meaning of the act. Re Washington Ellmore, Op. Sol. Dep. C. & L., p. 207. In the last-mentioned case the claimant was attacked with vertigo and collapsed, falling forward on a machine upon which he was employed and was injured. He developed inflammatory rheumatism, which the physician certified might have been latent and made active by the fall. It was held that this was an injury

Injuries from falls caused by fits, vertigo or other like causes

in the course of the employment and compensation was awarded.

The claimant in another case was employed as a night watchman in the camp of the Reclamation Service, and at 4 o'clock in the morning, while standing or leaning over a camp fire to get warm, the night being very cold, he lost consciousness from epilepsy, and fell into the fire and was badly burned. It was held that this was an injury within the meaning of the act, and that the employé was entitled to compensation. Re E. B. Clements, Op. Sol. Dep. C. & L., p. 190. The Solicitor cited as authorities for the conclusion reached the cases of Wicks v. Dowell & Co., 2 K. B. 225; 1 Meyer v. Fidelity Co., 96 Iowa 378; Interstate Casualty Co. v. Bird, 18 Ohio Cir. Ct. 488. The Solicitor also stated that his decision was inconsistent with a previous opinion rendered in the Lowd case (not reported), which latter opinion was rendered February 4, 1909, but added: "The question involved has now been carefully re-examined in the light of anthorities not then available, and I am now satisfied that the reasoning employed in the earlier case was erroneous.'

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Where a laboring man working near an open hatchway was seized with epileptic fits and fell down the hold, it was held that this was an accidental injury, even though the having of the fit itself, if it had taken place under circumstances such as not to cause an injury, would not have been an accident. Wilkes (or Wicks) v. Dowell & Co. (1905), 2 K. B. 225; 7 W. C. C. 14.

An employé had an epileptic fit and fell from his wagon, fracturing his skull, and died from the injury. It was held that his mother was entitled to compensation as this was an injury arising out of and in the course of the employment. Driscoll v. Employers' Liability Assurance Corporation, Mass. Indus. Acc. Bd.

A school janitor was sent on a message on a very hot day.

1See this case cited below.

Injuries from falls caused by fits, vertigo or other like causes

He fainted on the street from the heat and fell backwards, striking his head on the pavement, subsequently dying from the effects of the injury. It was held that this was not an injury arising from the employment. Rodger v. Paisley School Board, 1912, 49 Sc. L. R. 413; 5 B. W. C. C. 547.

A carman fell from his van and sustained injuries. He died three weeks later. No evidence was produced to show the connection between the accident and death, the doctor who had attended the man being abroad. It was held, reversing the decision of the County Court judge, that there was no evidence that the death was due to the accident. Honor v. Painter (1911), 4 B. W. C. C. 188.

A workman fell from a cart and was injured. He died nine days afterward. The only medical evidence produced was to the effect that there was no connection between the accident and the death. The County Court judge, however, found that death was due to the accident and awarded compensation. It was held on appeal that the dependent had not discharged the onus of proving that death was due to the accident. Brown v. Kidman (1911), 4 B. W. C. C. 199.

A workhouse master, who suffered from tuberculosis, while seated on steps leading to his private room, had a fit of coughing which made him giddy, and he fell down the steps and broke a rib, which caused his death from pneumonia, about twelve days later. It was held that the accident did not arise out of the employment and compensation was refused to the widow. Butler v. Burton-on-Trent Union (1912) 5 B. W. C. C. 355.

A driver of a coal wagon was about to drive on the scales to obtain the weight of his load of coal when he fell to the ground, death being due to natural causes. It was held that this was not a personal injury within the meaning of the Massachusetts Act. Lewis v. Globe Indemnity Co., Mass. Indus. Acc. Bd.

Heart diseases

10. Apoplexy.

A workman, in the course of his ordinary and usual employment, overexerted himself and brought on an attack of cerebral hemorrhage, and it was held that the occurrence was an accident within the meaning of the Act. M'Innes v. Dunsmuir & Jackson (1908), 45 Scotch L. R. 804; 1 B. W. C. C. 226. See to the same effect, Martin v. Travelers' Ins. Co., 1 F. & F. 505.

A collier died of apoplexy during working hours in a mine. The majority of the doctors said that his arteries were in a very diseased condition, and that apoplexy might have come upon him when asleep in bed, or when walking about, or when overexerting himself. The collier's work on that day was to build a pack, but there was no evidence that apoplexy came upon him when he was incurring a strain. It was held that as the evidence as to the cause of death was equally consistent with an accident and with no accident, and the onus of proving that it was due to accident rested on the applicants, in this case that onus had not been discharged by them. Barnabas v. Bersham Colliery Co. (1910), 4 B. W. C. C. 119.

11. Heart diseases.

A workman collapsed at his work, and died the same day from angina pectoris. The evidence was that his heart was in a bad state, and that the attack might have been caused by exertion, or might have been due to natural causes. It was held, reversing the decision of the County Court judge, that the dependents had not discharged the onus of proving that the accident arose out of the employment. Hawkins v. Powell's Tillery Steam Coal Co. (1911), 104 L. T. 365; 4 B. W. C. C. 178.

While a workman was driving a cart the horse fell, the shaft broke, and the man apparently was thrown out. He went to a farm to borrow another cart; being unsuccessful in this he walked away with the horse and was subsequently

Heart diseases

found dead on the road at the top of a hill. The medical evidence was that he died from syncope, but that it was impossible to say for certain what had caused the syncope. The judge held that the dependent had not discharged the onus of proving that the death was caused by the accident. This decision was affirmed on appeal. Powers v. Smith (1910), 3 B. W. C. C. 470.

A workman who, while engaged in work which was too heavy for him, felt a sudden pain upon his chest and a few days afterward became totally incapacitated. On an application for compensation the arbitrator found as a fact that the cause of the incapacity was a cardiac breakdown, due to the fact that the work in which the workman had been engaged was too heavy for him and that he was not injured by any sudden jerk; that the repeated excessive exertions strained the workman's heart until it was finally overstrained. Under these circumstances, it was held that the incapacity was not due to a personal injury by accident within the meaning of the Act. Coe v. Fife Coal Co. (1909), 46 Scotch L. R. 325; 2 B. W. C. C. 8.

A workman had for years been suffering from progressive heart disease. While hurrying to the station with a parcel, in the course of his employment, he was taken ill and died. It was held that the death was attributable to the disease and that there was no evidence of accident within the meaning of the Act. O'Hara v. Hayes (1910), 44 Irish L. T. R. 71; 3 B. W. C. C. 586.

A workman suffering from an advanced aneurism of the aorta was doing his work in the ordinary way by tightening a nut with a spanner. This ordinary strain caused a rupture of the aneurism, resulting in death. The County Court judge, on conflicting evidence, found that the workman's death resulted from personal injury by accident within the meaning of the Act. It was held in the House of Lords that there was evidence on which the County Court judge was justified in so deciding. Clover Clayton & Co. v. Hughes

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