But it does not appear that he observed the case for a
long time preceding death. Instead of his giving an opinion that the
disability and morphine produced death, he says, as it is reported to
me, after describing the condition of the limb previous to its
amputation in 1863 and immediately thereafter:
According to my opinion, said disability and the constant use of
morphia in consequence of it may have been the cause of his death.
This and the statement of a druggist in Louisville that he sold him
morphine to alleviate pain, and of two different persons with whom he
boarded at that city in 1885 to the same effect, is all the evidence
that I can discover tending in the least to hint that the death of the
pensioner resulted from any cause but sunstroke, which really stands as
the undisputed cause of death.
The allegation in the committee's report that the beneficiary's claim
was rejected by the Pension Bureau on the ground that her husband's
death proceeded from the use of morphine is erroneous. The cause of
rejection is stated to be "that the death cause (sunstroke) was not the
result of the soldier's military service."
We are not, therefore, left to the consideration of the question whether
death from the use of morphine to allay pain can be charged to the
disability incurred, for if death resulted from sunstroke it will hardly
be claimed that it was in any way related to such disability.
Pages:
761
762
763
764
765
766
767
768
769
770
771
772
773
774
775
776
777
778
779
780
781
782
783
784
785