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Randall v. Mihm12/21/1992
BROGAN, Judge.
Appellant, Patrick G. Mihm, Administrator, Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation , appeals from the judgment of the Clark County Court of Common Pleas which found that appellee, Dixie D. Randall, was entitled to participate in the Workers' Compensation Fund for the death of her husband, employee-decedent James Randall.
The underlying facts of the case are as follows. Appellee is the lawful dependent of the employee-decedent. On August 17, 1977, the decedent sustained an industrial injury while in the course of his employment with Cascade Corporation. The decedent injured his lower back and right hip while picking up material at work. The decedent's claim for workers' compensation benefits was allowed for the back and hip injuries. After two back surgeries, there was apparent nerve damage, which resulted in urinary retention, an atonic bladder, impotence, and pain in the left leg. Moreover, the decedent suffered from marked anxiety and depression. Those conditions were added to the claim as "flow through" injuries.
The decedent was a large man who weighed over three hundred pounds at the time of his industrial injury. The back surgeries failed to alleviate all of the pain and other symptoms associated with the injury. The decedent's physician, Dr. Cass ordered a CAT scan to detect any remaining pathology associated with the back injury. At the time the decedent presented himself for the CAT scan, he weighed in excess of three hundred pounds. The radiologist could not perform the CAT scan procedure because the decedent was too heavy for the machine.
Dr. Cass informed the decedent that he would have to lose a significant amount of weight in order to have the CAT scan. Dr. Cass indicated to the decedent that she felt the CAT scan was necessary for a proper diagnosis of his continuing back problems. She further indicated to the decedent that loss of weight could possibly help to alleviate some of the negative symptoms associated with the back injury. As a result, the decedent attempted to lose weight through various means.
All of the approaches attempted by the decedent to lose enough weight for the CAT scan failed. Dr. Cass testified that the decedent "did everything he could to lose weight and he couldn't." Because of his failure to lose weight utilizing morsconventional methods such as dieting and pills, the decedent decided to undergo gastric plication surgery, more commonly known as "stomach stapling."
The gastric plication surgery was successful in allowing the decedent to lose the weight he needed for the CAT scan, but resulted in numerous medical complications which eventually led to his death.
As a result of the gastric plication surgery, the decedent suffered regurgitation syndrome, which caused a reflux of gastric contents into his throat and excessive vomiting. Moreover, he lost weight too fast because of a closure of the stomach and had to undergo two more procedures to alleviate this problem. Furthermore, the decedent suffered from gall bladder problems due to the accelerated weight loss, which resulted in additional surgery.
The decedent died on April 28, 1987. He went to sleep in his recliner and apparently expired sometime during the night. The following morning, his wife found him unconscious and called the paramedics. The paramedics were unable to resuscitate him. He was pronounced dead at Mercy Medical Hospital. The immediate cause of death was "cerebral anoxia," a term which describes death due to lack of oxygen to the brain. This condition was brought on by asphyxia caused when the decedent regurgitated and then aspirated the gastric contents of his stom
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