and mineral therapy, and on August 30, 1943, X-ray studies were again made. At this time there was marked improvement in the status of the bone tissue, there was considerable evidence of callus formation and early primary union, and the angulation noted previously had been markedly reduced. X-ray studies were again made on September 13, at which time continued improvement was noted and the healing of the bone fracture appeared to be progressing satisfactorily by both primary union and callus formation. traction and splint was removed and she was allowed the freedom of the bed. On October 14, 1943, she was permitted to get out of bed, and 2 weeks later began to walk with aid and with a convalescent walker. She was discharged from the hospital on November 12, 1943, ambulatory on crutches, but still exhibiting a marked weakness and inability to use the left lower extremity in a normal manner. Since the second operation she has continued to suffer extreme pain, disability, and weakness in the left lower extremity and particularly the left hip joint and has continued to be unable to bear her weight on the left lower extremity because of this distress. Motion in the reconstructed hip joint is only about 10 percent of normal; the hip is dislocated; disability is 90 percent; and the muscles of the extremity have failed to respond to treatments or to her efforts to rehabilitate the muscles by exercise. The reconstruction operation failed. So great is the pain when she attempts to place her weight on the lower extremity that she is unable to walk or stand except for very short intervals. She now has, as a result of her injuries, a 2-inch shortening of her lower left extremity and a dislocated flail hip, both of which are permanent. Her pain, discomfort, and disability not having lessened, in March 1944 she was advised by Dr. Royal Moore, Philadelphia, Pa., to wear a brace, which she has worn from that date to the present time and will be compelled to wear for the rest of her life. From the time of her accident to the present time she has been in constant pain, unable to obtain normal sleep and rest, and has required the continuous use of strong sedatives. She has, since her accident, required and procured continuous and extensive medical care and treatment from numerous medical specialists, as is evidenced by her expenditures for medical care and treatment as shown on the itemized list of her expenses, a part of this file. She is now being treated exclusively by Dr. Abraham Myers. She is ambulatory within her home only by means of the brace and two crutches. She is unable to leave her home. As a result of her pain and disability, she has been unable to take care of herself or her business. She has been compelled to employ nurses and servants, and her daughter, Marion Fruman, was compelled, on August 14, 1942, to resign from employment with the United States Government at a salary of $1,440 per annum with prospects for advancement in order to devote her full time to the operation of her mother's business. Many of these expenses, including servants, compensation to her daughter, medical expenses for treatment and medicines, will continue for the remainder of her life. Since the fall, Mr. Fruman has spent 200 days in hosptials, of which 90 days were in plaster body cast. When not in the hospital, she has been under medical treatment constantly and living on a prescribed routine as previously described herein. She is able to get H. Repts., 81-1, vol. 399 around her home to a very limited extent by use of brace and crutches but the pains from which she constantly suffers are aggravated by any type of exertion or activity and she has been advised by physicians to try never to put any weight on the injured hip. She has thus been precluded from living a normal life and engaging in any sort of business or personal activities other than to advise her daughter in the management of the business which she herself conducted prior to her fall. Mrs. Fruman believes that these expenses will continue throughout her life and there is a definite possibility that she will be forced to undergo another operation. Since this fall and the discovery that the surgery was unsuccessful, there has been no time at which she has not been suffering from acute pain variously and concurrently in the hip, groin, knee, and foot, and from the realization that her condition is incurable with the resultant effect on her life and that of her family. As stated in the above report, Mrs. Fruman's daughter resigned from her position to attempt to run her mother's business. Your committee is of the opinion that the amount paid to her daughter should not be reimbursed by the Government, in view of the fact that she is operating the business and your committee has deducted this from the bill and is of the opinion that Mrs. Fruman should be compensated in the amount of $15,000 for her permanent injuries and expenses incurred as a result of this accident. Paid bills and canceled checks, amounting to more than $10,000, are filed with the committee, as they are too voluminous to be included in the report. A report, dated August 31, 1948, from the Postmaster General states that it will impose no objection to the enactment of this bill, but states it believes the sum of $35,000 is too excessive, and recommends that it be reduced to a sum which the Congress may deem to be adequate. After careful consideration of the bill by the committee, it is the opinion that the sum of $15,000 should be appropriated for her relief. Therefore, your committee recommends favorable consideration to this bill, as amended. Hon. EARL C. MICHENER, OFFICE OF THE POSTMASTER GENERAL, House of Representatives. DEAR CONGRESSMAN: Further reference is made to your request for a report on H. R. 6850, a bill for the relief of Mrs. Dora Fruman. Records of this Department disclose that Mrs. Fruman was injured while descending the stairs leading from the William Penn Annex at the entrance nearest Chestnut Street on Ninth Street in Philadelphia, Pa., on August 14, 1942 It appears that Mrs. Fruman stepped into a pool of water on the second or third step from the top of the stairs, which caused her to slip and fall. Mrs. Fruman was removed to the Jefferson Hospital in Philadelphia, where an X-ray examination disclosed that she had sustained a fractured left hip. Records on file in this Department further disclose that Mrs. Fruman was interviewed by a post-office inspector and signed a statement, giving her version of the accident, on February 4, 1943. However, she did not file a claim nor did she evidence an interest to file claim in her statement to the inspector. Of course, the statutory period during which Mrs. Fruman might have filed a claim with this Department has long since expired. If it is the sense of the Congress that the claimant be compensated "on account of personal injuries, pain and suffering, loss of earnings, and medical, hospital, and other expenses" sustained by her as a result of her injury, this Department will interpose no objection to the enactment of this measure. However, it is believed that the sum of $35,000 is excessive and it is the recommendation of this Department that this be reduced to a sum which the Congress may deem to be adequate. Pertinent papers are herewith submitted in accordance with your request. This Department has been advised by the Bureau of the Budget that there would be no objection to the submission of this report to your committee. Sincerely yours, AFFIDAVIT OF DORA FRUMAN J. M. DONALDSON, COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA, County of Philadelphia, ss: Dora Fruman, being first duly sworn on oath, deposes and says: This affidavit is submitted for consideration in connection with H. R. 1637, Eighty-first Congress, a bill for the relief of Mrs. Dora Fruman. She is a naturalized citizen (1921) of the United States and a resident of Philadelphia, Pa., and has been since 1913. She is 63 years of age at the present time and has been a widow since 1928. Up to August 14, 1942, she operated and actively conducted a business known as Dora Fruman's Quality Jewelry at 735 South Third Street, Philadelphia, Pa., and was in good health. On August 14, 1942, at about 12:15 p. m., while she was walking down the stone steps of the William Penn Annex, United States post office, Ninth and Market Streets, Philadelphia, Pa., on the Ninth Street side of the building, she slipped and fell, sustaining the injuries hereinafter described. Immediately after falling, and while she was still lying on the steps, she discovered that she had slipped in a puddle of soapy water on a step, which was so similar in color to the step that she had not seen it prior to her fall, although she had exercised every care and caution in descending the steps The wet, slippery condition of the step was the direct cause of her fall and injuries. August 14, 1942. had been a clear day without precipitation in Philadelphia, and it is her belief that the soapy water had dripped or fallen from windows being washed above the steps. Since her fall handrails have been installed on these steps. She was removed to Jefferson Hospital from the scene of the accident, but because she did not have 2 weeks' fee to be paid in advance she was removed to Mount Sinai Hospital the same day. X-rays taken at Jefferson Hospital showed that she had sustained an intracapsular fracture of the neck of the cervical portion of the left femur. On the following day, August 15, 1942, the fracture was nailed with a Smith-Peterson nail, by Dr. Abraham Myers, 269 South Nineteenth Street, Philadelphia, Pa. She remained in the hospital until August 31, 1942, when she was discharged and returned to her home. Thereafter she was confined to bed for several months except for walking within her home for limited periods, with the aid of crutches. She suffered intense and continuing pain from the time of the accident, and this pain and her inability to walk resulting from her injuries continued without abatement after the operation. In the spring of 1943 X-ray studies were made to determine the cause of her continuing pain and disability. These X-rays revealed that she was developing an avascular necrosis or degeneration of the neck of the femur and that the head of the femur was involved in the necrosis and becoming absorbed and would eventually disappear almost completely. Due to this development the Smith-Peterson nail appeared to have shifted in position and was no longer holding the head. She is informed that this complication occurs in about 50 percent of these cases. On the advice of Dr. James Madison Eaton, Upper Darby, Pa., affiant submitted to an operation in the Osteopathic Hospital, Philadelphia, for the reconstruction of the hip joint, and on June 23, 1943, under ether anesthesia, an Albee reconstruction of the left hip joint was performed by Dr. Eaton, employing an Albee-Preston hip cup in the acetabulum. The Smith-Peterson nail, mentioned previously, was found to be lying loose in the torchanteric portion of the femur and was only held in place by the fibrous tissue about the head of the nail. The Smith-Peterson nail was removed and a necrotic channel large enough to admit the index finger was found to traverse the trochanter. The nail was not in contact with the head of the femur. The cervical portion of the femur was completely absorbed and the head of the femur was completely detached from the shaft, moving freely in the acetabulum. Apparently the ligamentum teres was detached. The head of the bone was removed from the acetabulum and the latter structure cleaned, and a medium-sized Albee-Preston cup was installed and anchored with a single screw. The Albee reconstruction was effected and the trochanter was held in abduction from the shaft by means of the reshaped femoral head used as a wedge. A bilateral plaster-of-paris hip spica was applied from the toes of the left foot to the costal arches and from the right knee to the costal arch. She suffered from a rather severe degree of surgical shock and was in a critical condition for about 24 hours, but responded to blood transfusions, infusions of plasma, and other stimulants. The cast was removed on August 4, 1943, and X-ray studies revealed that alinement of the surgery remained good, but there was apparently no effort of healing demonstrated. Traction was applied and the limb held immobilized in a Thomas splint and X-ray studies were made on August 11. At that time there was noted a subtrochanteric fracture with a rather marked degree of angulation, and again no evidence of healing or callus formation could be noted. Increased traction was applied and the patient placed on a concentrated vitamin and mineral therapy, and on August 30, 1943, X-ray studies were again made. At this time there was marked improvement in the status of the bone tissue, there was considerable evidence of callus formation and early primary union, and the angulation noted previously had been markedly reduced. X-ray studies were again made on September 13, at which time continued improvement was noted and the healing of the bone fracture appeared to be progressing satisfactorily by both primary union and callus formation. The traction and splint was removed and she was allowed the freedom of the bed. On October 14, 1943, she was permitted to get out of bed, and 2 weeks later began to walk with aid and with a convalescent walker. She was discharged from the hospital on November 12, 1943, ambulatory on crutches, but still exhibiting a marked weakness and inability to use the left lower extremity in a normal manner. Since the second operation she has continued to suffer extreme pain, disability, and weakness in the left lower extremity and particularly the left hip joint and has continued to be unable to bear her weight on the left lower extremity because of this distress. Motion in the reconstructed hip joint is only about 10 percent of normal; the hip is dislocated; disability is 90 percent; and the muscles of the extremity have failed to respond to treatments or to her efforts to rehabilitate the muscles by exercise. The reconstruction operation failed. So great is the pain when she attempts to place her weight on the left lower extremity that she is unable to walk or stand except for very short intervals. She now has, as a result of her injuries, a 2-inch shortening of her left lower extremity and a dislocated flail hip, both of which are permanent. Her pain, discomfort, and disability not having lessened, in March 1944 she was advised by Dr. John Royal Moore, Philadelphia, Pa., to wear a brace, which she has worn from that date to the present time and will be compelled to wear for the rest of her life. A photograph of the type of brace which she is wearing is attached hereto as exhibit "A." The brace has been altered twice recently on the advice of affiant's physician. From the time of her accident to the present time she has been in constant pain, unable to obtain normal sleep and rest, and has required the continuous use of strong sedatives. She has, since her accident required and procured continuous and extensive medical car and treatment, from numerous medical specialists, as is evidenced by her expenditures for medical care and treatment as shown on the itemized list of her expenses which is attached hereto. She is now being treated exclusively by Dr. Abraham Myers. She is ambulatory within her home only by means of the brace and two crutches. She cannot leave her home. As a result of her pain and disability, she has been unable to take care of herself or of her business. She has been compelled to employ nurses and servants, and her daughter, Marion Fruman, was compelled on August 14, 1942, to resign from employment with the United States Government at a salary of $1,440 per annum with prospects for advancement in order to devote her full time to the operation of affiant's business. Attached hereto is an itemized list of affiant's expenses, to date resulting from her accident, and totaling $19,429.24. Many of these expenses, including servants, compensation to her daughter, medical expense for treatment and medicines, will contine for the remainder of her life. No further operative procedures can be attempted because of affiant's poor general condition and the failure of the two operations she has undergone. Since the fall, she has spent 200 days in hospitals, of which 90 days were in a plaster body cast. When not in the hospital, she has been under medical treatment constantly and living on a prescribed routine as previously described herein. She is able to get around her home to a very limited extent by the use of a brace and crutches but the pains from which she constantly suffers are aggravated by any type of exertion or activity and she has been advised by physicians to try never to put any weight on the injured hip. She has thus been precluded from living a normal life and engaging in any sort of business or personal activities other than to advise her daughter in the management of the business which she herself conducted prior to her fall. She believes that these expenses will continue throughout her life and there is a definite possibility that she will be forced to undergo another operation. Since this fall and the discovery that the surgery was unsuccessful, there has been no time at which she has not been suffering from acute pain variously and concurrently in the hip, groin, knee and foot, and from the realization that her condition is incurable with the resultant effect on her life and that of her family. DORA FRUMAN. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 11th day of April 1949 Commission expires January 4, 1953. ANNA E. WOODS, Itemized list of expenses of Mrs. Dora Fruman as result of accident at William Penn annex, Post Office Department, Ninth and Market Sts., Philadelphia, on Aug. 14, 1942 |