Court Opinion

ID: 9695334
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-25 18:15:46.716446+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:20:10.858596
License: Public Domain

Concurring Opinion by
Judge Rogers :
I concur in the result. The writer was not a member of the panels which decided Elliott v. Workmen’s Compensation Appeal Board, 57 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. 70, 425 A.2d 885 (1981), Refosco v. Workmen’s *422Compensation Appeal Board, 57 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. 74, 425 A.2d 887 (1981); Vargo v. Workmen’s Compensation Appeal Board, 57 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. 77, 425 A.2d 888 (1981) holding that Section 301(c) (2) of the Workmen’s Compensation Act must be interpreted as allowing benefits for death resulting from occupational disease only where the disease “in and of itself” could have resulted in the death and that death to which occupational disease is only a contributing cause or death as the result of the aggravation of a preexisting condition by occupational disease are not compensable. Being a member of this panel provides the occasion for the writer to note his disagreement with the holdings just described and for expressing the opinion that Section 301(c)(2), being identical in wording to Section 301(c)(1),1 should be identically interpreted, that is, as providing compensation where occupational disease has contributed to or, by aggravation of the preexisting conditions, caused disability or death. We also note that the holding in this case is a departure from the rule of the cases cited because the phrase “the most significant cause” clearly implies the presence of other causes and therefore the decedent’s silicosis was ‘simply a “contributing” cause of his death.
Judge Williams, Jr., joins.

 Section 301(c)(1) says that death “resulting from injury,” is compensable and has been consistently construed to include cases where the injury contributed to death or was the cause of death through aggravation of a preexisting condition; Section 301(c)(2) says that compensation shall be granted for death “resulting from” occupational disease.