{
  "id": 5490510,
  "name": "INTERNATIONAL VERMICULITE COMPANY, Appellant, v. THE INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION et al. (Thomas H. Grady, Appellee)",
  "name_abbreviation": "International Vermiculite Co. v. Industrial Commission",
  "decision_date": "1979-09-19",
  "docket_number": "No. 51776",
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    "id": 8772,
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      "cite": "67 Ill. 2d 404",
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  "analysis": {
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    "char_count": 3637,
    "ocr_confidence": 0.861,
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  "last_updated": "2023-07-14T18:12:40.984246+00:00",
  "provenance": {
    "date_added": "2019-08-29",
    "source": "Harvard",
    "batch": "2018"
  },
  "casebody": {
    "judges": [],
    "parties": [
      "INTERNATIONAL VERMICULITE COMPANY, Appellant, v. THE INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION et al. (Thomas H. Grady, Appellee)."
    ],
    "opinions": [
      {
        "text": "MR. JUSTICE MORAN\ndelivered the opinion of the court:\nThe sole issue presented by the employer, International Vermiculite Company, in this workmen\u2019s compensation case is whether compensation awarded by the arbitrator, affirmed by the Industrial Commission and confirmed by the circuit court of Sangamon County, is contrary to the manifest weight of the evidence.\nNo useful purpose would be served by a detailed recitation of the facts. Suffice it to say that the claimant, Thomas H. Grady, a 47-year-old production foreman, was climbing the outside of a 20-foot bin during the course of his employment on March 17, 1975, when he felt a sharp pain in the back of his right knee. Examination of the leg three weeks later revealed severe blockage of the main artery behind the knee. Three surgical operations failed to restore proper blood circulation to the leg. The claimant\u2019s treating physician testified that the claimant suffers from arteriosclerosis in both legs; that arteriosclerosis is a degenerative disease which can result in a total blockage of the arteries; that numerous factors, such as smoking and diet, may accelerate the degenerative condition, and that the stress to the claimant\u2019s leg could have caused the blockage, thereby aggravating the claimant\u2019s preexisting condition. The employer submitted the expert testimony of a physician who opined that both the claimant\u2019s heavy smoking and the injury to the claimant\u2019s right knee may have accelerated the development of arteriosclerosis, but that the severe blockage in the claimant\u2019s artery was more likely to have resulted from gradual degeneration than from a specific injury.\nWe have repeatedly held that it is peculiarly within the province of the Industrial Commission to resolve precisely the issues presented here by the employer. The claimant\u2019s injury need not be the sole -factor which aggravates a preexisting condition, so long as it is a factor which contributes to the disability. (Riteway Plumbing v. Industrial Com. (1977), 67 Ill. 2d 404, 411-12; Proctor Community Hospital v. Industrial Com. (1969), 41 Ill. 2d 537, 542.) If the injury is a contributing factor, compensation will be allowed even if it is also possible that the claimant\u2019s disability may have resulted from natural degenerative change or from other contributing factors, such as smoking. (Westinghouse Electric Co. v. Industrial Com. (1976), 64 Ill. 2d 244, 249-50.) The opinions of both medical witnesses, that the claimant\u2019s injury might have aggravated his preexisting condition, easily satisfied the claimant\u2019s burden of proof. (See Memorial Medical Center v. Industrial Com. (1978), 72 Ill. 2d 275, 279-81; County of Cook v. Industrial Com. (1977), 69 Ill. 2d 10, 18.) Even if one of the medical witnesses was equivocal on the question of causation, it is for the Commission to decide which medical view is to be accepted, and it may attach greater weight to the opinion of the treating physician. (Holiday Inns of America v. Industrial Com. (1969), 43 Ill. 2d 88, 89-90; Proctor Community Hospital v. Industrial Com. (1969), 41 Ill. 2d 537, 541.) In our judgment, the Commission\u2019s findings were not against the manifest weight of the evidence. Accordingly, the judgment of the circuit court of Sangamon County is affirmed.\nJudgment affirmed.",
        "type": "majority",
        "author": "MR. JUSTICE MORAN"
      }
    ],
    "attorneys": [
      "Henry D. Noetzel & Associates, of Peoria (William J. Thomas, of counsel), for appellant.",
      "Calandr\u00f3lo, Logan & Robeson, of Springfield (Frank S. Calandr\u00f3lo, of counsel), for appellee."
    ],
    "corrections": "",
    "head_matter": "(No. 51776.\nINTERNATIONAL VERMICULITE COMPANY, Appellant, v. THE INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION et al. (Thomas H. Grady, Appellee).\nOpinion filed September 19, 1979.\nHenry D. Noetzel & Associates, of Peoria (William J. Thomas, of counsel), for appellant.\nCalandr\u00f3lo, Logan & Robeson, of Springfield (Frank S. Calandr\u00f3lo, of counsel), for appellee."
  },
  "file_name": "0001-01",
  "first_page_order": 19,
  "last_page_order": 22
}