Document Jv3ov43Zx1OgrxVaBjK5r2LjO
#18 Oakland, Calif. R. A* Oienope
Cleveland .
Corporate Insurance May 30, 1974
Redacted
I am enclosing a report from Liberty Mutual reaardino the
above Mbrkmen's Compensation death claim.
was formerly employed at the Oakland Factory.;
Redacted
I suggest you review your file on this claim when you have In t opportunity. Qordon Lacey and this office exchange^ several
letters regarding this claim. Also, the claim Mas substantial significance due to.several unique points.
This claim was initiated by Kaiser .Hospitals rather than by decedent's widow. The first physician to review the medical evidence at Liberty Mutual's request, died in an accident before he wrote'an opinion. And the widow stated to Gordon
Lacey that her husband's death was hastened by his intake of alcoholic beverages| she later changed her tune when Kaiser's action precipitated a claim.
Me believe the attached correspondence speaks for itself. Ms
were unable to include a copy of Dr. Consentino's letter, as
the copy we received was too poor to reproduce.
Me can expect a resolution of this matter at some future time. Liberty Mutual should advise us of the results._
JDK:hb Ends.
JACK D. HILL, JR,
N40586
May 24, 1974
LIBERTY MUTUAL
Westgate Plaza Building; 20325 Center Ridge Road; Cleveland, Ohio 44116 Tel. (216)
Sherwin-Williams Company 101 Prospect Avenue NW Cleveland, Ohio 44115
Att: Mr. Jack D. Kull, Staff Assistant Corporate Insurance Department
Redacted
be:
vs SHERWIN-WILLIAMS,
Redacted
Dear Jack:
Attached is correspondence from our Oakland Office and our attorney, as well as a supplemental report from Dr. Cosentino. The documents are self-explan atory and make it appear that we are now in very good shape to defend this matter.
Vsrv fcnilv vours .
Lee R. Shealy Claims Manager MM/ enc.
N40586.01
LIBERTY MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY LIBERTY MUTUAL FIRE INSURANCE COMPANY LIBERTY LIFE ASSURANCE COMPANY OF BOSTON HOME OFFICES: BOSTON
EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYERS
0007-SWP-005504010
CONFIDENTIAL
l' ij
AN THONY M. COSENTINO, iMrr.nNAi.
M. D.
22 OO HAYF3 STRLET
?AN ri'AN'ClSCO, C. Al .1 FT1R N t A O'lU"
Pi ion i: 'in'/ '`K P
'larch 30, 19 74
uim Meredith , Ksg . doshkin, Pollatssl: s Herr-.iith \ctorneyj at Law 22 flattery >l;. , dte. il': 3in Francisco, C-.-t. <>4 1 11
Redacted
to: i,
- , Peer-a sod
vs. Liberty 'tutua !. am;
Oherwin
1 iurns pa i.a-- do.
)ear Hr. . arreui
rhis willL su">nl Gif - n !.....\eyv\/
: >. y't or
1 . I aavr a a d the o ...or
fcuriity to review
Redacted s x-rays and found tuat tho earl iest
roentgenou r am of .;i ;/v. . I: was da t~d 2 1/25/72, at wale 'a tin.--- r.:ic-re
ms an ciliavgod heart am o(-ri!iilar in Ultra tan. 'Foe .inf .1.1 tra fees
were fairly dense art; th< distribution irig'ostr:: that it mi ydt hav'-
.oeen something more than.
eonueo tivr heart Luair
On 12/11/73 there was sony clearing - of the infi 1 traces, but still a large heart in spite of treatment lor congastxvo acart raj lure. Bv 1/5/7.1 tnere was almost eomnioh''- clearing o i: the .Lungs and the heart was as la roe - nnd nos : ivly larger. As of 1/2-1/7 3 tnc lungs were essential ly clear ana the heart v/as Still larac. Tnis pro tracted course of lung infiltrates - that is, tor.' failure to clear promptly with treatment of the heart faial.ro - certainly suggests that some one union ic process was nronr-rt in addi f ion to just nuliiionary edema secondurv to heart failure. Aocoi'd.iny.lv , a lung biopsy was nerformer with the documented rosulrs r wnicii were- comuentea upon in my presvious report. As of 3/5/7h tnc-: lung fields we re clear and the heart: was still la rge . 0a. j / 2 ' ! t : 3 an im: .titrate .appeared in the left lung which was consistent witn the clinical .>icture of rm] Tionic7 .in frirctia:*. 'Hie teart remained Large' and tae lungs otherwise reamirm-d clear.
-
/.iter reviewing the x-rays, I cannot- so urate the disease processes
in the hear t and lungs. Ana;: is to say they ague cured to have a simultaneous onset a no. I must: therefore core l.udc taa r. tie-/ h-.ui. a
common etiology. Tins again strongly s guests to ;.tc that : c was a viral pneumonit J :: and myocarditis, an that he suuseqiH. a i a i o d
of his .viral mvooarci.cis .long artc.r his pneumonitis uaa cl
Again, I vise to rcitor lated to ;:er.u;a. vir.j.vt' i
hat T knot/ o*. no myOG.Vrorqpa thy re~ titia.i. - ncuriioniii.i o: alveolar grp teir>~
N40586.02
0007-SWP-005504011
CONFIDENTIAL
Redacted
Rg :
i la r. 30- .1 j 14
os is, nor a'-.'. I funilinr ->n th any syndromes related to toxic tnous
er iu J. < - \i >o?. arc -
. -r
| i.-n^J
Redacted , . a viraj pneumo~
nitia W mvocard.i.ti:i ana ax.-.jryfj a:; a reau.it oUns viral ravo ^ j.,*rciifcis. I can ^ca'Ois'i no relations.-, ip bpt;v/c?vO au xi....ne:TM u*r,
. i:i.a occupation .
Si/iA'-erptly ...yours
-7/ l ;
/
^ ' 1 /1 4 1 j<.. *
/r $i .ji-
,.i . .........
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A/utnoiYv ii,, Co^( iitino,* *i)~
CLEVELAND CLAIMS
W. WANGLER
G&8Wii$ Follatsefc & mm<k
Atturmim at Law 22l Battery Street Stii framlm&g Ca, $4111
my go, l$fk
Redacted r e: * ms
Redacted co.
Gtstleassi
Tkask ym tor year letter of Itsy 1, 197%, o h the deposition of Dr. Stettner; 1 Mm MttbBiBqmsbly received ai r&rimM the deposition which 1 now return t you herewith, slat# It la your sly copy. Your latter reflects an accu rate summarisation of the deposition concerning the opinions expressed by Dr* Steitnar. I * ia sgrtaas&t with you that we do not pursue further dissomry with Dr. Klatsky, for the reasons you hay# stated.
looking at the overall picture, this ease was Initiated by the Kaiser appli cation la Aiagmk 1973 to recover in excess of $6,000 hospitalisation expense incurred "by this employee. The widow subsequently filed her own application ia Octdber 1973. At the pressnt tiss the opinions of Dr. Stettner, the Kaiser doctor would appear to pretty well discredit the Kaiser application. An fix m I know, there has been no atedieal mstfealttad on behalf of the widow.
Rather than to prolong the egsay, now that more than six months hav passed gitsee the most recent application, 1 ask that you file a declaration of readiness so that this case can be moved to hearing and disposition made, unless there are other derelopasst* of which we are unaware car that such a declaration be contraindicated, 1MI it setaa likely that tka etsployea ; received COB benefits, 1 have a Indication that any lien has been filed regarding such benefits, likewise an indication that the medical certifica tion for those benefits did not indicate any Industrial causation. It would 4, appear accordingly th&t the essplejyea lad no loss in disability benefits, and a ttis present basis I see ao reason to make any compromise settlement on
the widow or on Kalsar.
If you are in agreement, please file the declaration.
HXHsf
hoc: Cleveland Claims - W. Wangler Home Office Claims
Very truly yours,
LIBERTY MUTUAL FIRE BSSUMNCE CO.
w'- : \
;V. :,) :
H. I, Kerman
Assistant Claims Onager
N4Q586.03
CONFToeN^'-
JACK *E- tSOSHKIN JACK A. POLLATSEK SAMUEL E. MEREDITH
Go s h k in , Po l l a t s e e a n d Me r e d it h
AT TO RNEYS AT L_AW
22 BATTERY STREET SAN FRANCISCO S^lll
8
TELEPHONE I>*153 9S1-MDO
Williams Paint Co.
A>o> "
Dear Don:
On April 11, 197^ I took the deposition of Joel Stettner at the Kaiser Facilities in Oakland. Prior to that time I had met with Dr. Anthony Cosentino to discuss the case and a?eas of cross-examination of Dr. Stettner. That proved to be quite beneficial.
"First of all, enclosed is a copy of a report of March 30, 197^4 from Dr. Cosentino which is the report submitted after he had an opportunity to review the x-rays. You will note that he is even more emphatic now in his belief that thepneumonitis and the myocarditis were due to a viral infection and not in any way related to his employment.
The deposition of Dr. Stettner went extremely .well. First of all. Dr. Stettner is a resident in internal medicine at the Kaiser Facility. He obtained his Bachelor's Degree in 1969 from Wayne State University in Detroit and obtained his M.D. Degree from Wayne State in 1971. He has done all of ' his internship And residency training at' the Kaiser Facility in Oakland.
The deposition was/quite detailed and I will not burden you . with the details but will forward a "copy for your review when it is received.
I asked him about the report that he had submitted dated January 25, 1973 wherein he had stated that there was "probable injury secondary to inhalation of noxious fumes or particulate matter" He indicated that that report was not prepared by him
N40586.04
A
fit-p'*
0007-SWP-005504Q14
CONFIDENTIAL
liberty Mutual Insurance Company Re:
Page 2
Redacted
May 1, 1974
but was prepared by someone in the Industrial Medicine
group and signed by him. He admitted that that was only one of many
possibilities as to the etiology of
* problems and it
was on that basis that he signed the report. He indicated
that he signed the report because he was the physician most
familiar with the overall course of
treatment,
>
etc
Redacted
He testifies that the patient did have pneumonitis and myocarditis. It is his opinion that the cardiomyopathy was due to the patient ?s alcoholic intake over the years. Therefore, he states that the man's death'was not caused by the industrial injury or exposure. Further, as to the etiology of the pneumonitis, he cannot state with any reasonable medical probability, the etiology. Therefore, he cannot implicate the alleged exposures to toxins on the job but only stated It as one of some five or six possibilities.
In addition, it would appear that by the beginning of January,
1973, the patient had completely cleared of the pneumonitis
and his problems thereafter were completely related to the
cardiomyopathy. Therefore, even assuming that the pneumonitis
was In some way related to the exposure to toxins on thejob,
the industrial liability would have terminated as of the
beginning of January, 1973 Dr. Stettner does not in any
way implicate the alleged industrial exposure to the man's
heart problems.
i
| Redacted
You will note that shortly before!
died he had numerous
pulmonary emboli. .However, Dr. Stettner testifies that that
Is a natural result of the cardiac failure and not due to the
previous pneumonitis.
I think that we have an excellent expert witness In Dr. Anthony Cosentino in this matter. Dr. Cosentino Is a pulmonary specialist and is quit? convinced that the decedent l)ad
a viral infection involving both the lung ind the heart.
0007-SWP-005504015
CONFIDENTIAL
Liberty Mutual Insurance Company Re:
Page 3
Redacted
May 1, 1974
The lung infection cleared up after a couple of months but the heart infection did not and progressed4 until the
patient died.
The attorney representing the widow, is also considering a medical malpractice action to be brought against the Kaiser doctors and there, indeed, might be a basis for it. It is clear that the Kaiser doctors failed to diagnose a viral myocarditis which would be treated with steroids. Dr. Cosentino is quite emphatic in.saying that while the Kaiser doctors mis-diagnosed the condition, the treatment would have bean the same. It is clear that hedges not want to get involved in a medical malpractice action. For that matter, neither do we. At any rate, this does loom in the
background in this case.
There is further discovery that could be done,such as deposing
Dr. Arthur L. Klatsky of the Department of Cardiology of the
Permanente Medical Group. Dr. Klatsky submitted the October 10,
1973 report. However, Dr. Klatsky's report is certainly vague
on the possible relationship of any industrial exposure and
I am inclined to let it stand. I do not think that it constitutes
substantial evidence on which a finding of industrial relationship
could be made. We have Dr. Cosentino * s report and testimony
which is in fact supported by evidence and I am inclined to
let the matter proceed on the basis ^of the present record.
Presumably, the applicant will get some other opinion. At
the present time there is no opinion that relates the heart
condition to the industrial exposure and that is what caused
the death of
Redacted
Very /?tru 1^ yours ,
try ^ ''Samuel E. Meredith
SEM:la Enel. - Dr. Cosentino's report of March 30, 1974.
0007-SWP-005504016
CONFIDENTIAL