Standard Accident & Life Insurance v. Wood

⁵⁸⁴ Judge Pearce delivered the opinion of the Court. On May 19th, 1907, the Standard Life and Accident Insurance Company of Detroit, issued to Rufus K. Wood an accident policy insuring him against “bodily injuries effected, directly and independently of all other causes, through external, accidental and violent means,” and therein promised in consideration of the payment in advance of the initial and renewal premiums in said policy, to pay to Ruth M. Wood, wife of said Rufus Eh Wood, the sum of five thousand dollars in event of injuries as above stated, resulting-in the death of said Rufus K. Wood, together with such accumulations as should accrue on said policy, amounting under the terms of said policy to the sum of $500, and this policy was renewed for one year from May 19th, 1908, by the payment in advance, of the annual premium thereon. On May 2nd, 1909, while Mr. Wood and his wife were on a sailing- party on the Patapsco River, in a small yacht, a violent storm arose, and Mr. Wood was struck by the boom of a sail, breaking his leg in three places near the ankle, fracturing the leg so badly that it was bent at right angles. It was nearly an hour before the yacht could be brought to the landing- when Mr. Wood was carried to his home, at Sparrows Point, where he received attention from Dr. Robert W. Johnson, the chief surgeon, and Dr. John S. Woodward, the resident surgeon of the Maryland Steel Company, at Sparrows Point, of which company Mr. Wood was the general manager.

On the same afternoon, May 2nd, 1909, these two surgeons gave him an anaesthetic, chloroform, to relieve the pain and set the leg- temporarily, until the swelling should be reduced. They first examined his heart, and found nothing abnormal, nothing to contra-indicate the use of chloroform; the temporary splint was removed May 12 and an attempt was made, without an anaesthetic, to apply a plaster splint, but this was not satisfactory, and on May 16th the leg- was permanently set, using chloroform as an anaesthetic. This was concluded about noon, when Dr. Johnson returned ⁵⁸⁵ to Baltimore, and Mr. Wood died the same afternoon between one and two o’clock. Mrs. Wood testified that about an hour after the final setting of the leg, as directed by the surgeons, he was given nourishment ; that he raised his head as much as she would allow him, “and that was the end.” Sarah Lynch, a domestic, testified that when the nourishment was given him by Mrs. Wood he raised himself on both elbows when the end came as Mrs. Wood described it.

Mr. Wood was 60 years of age when ho died, and had been at the head of the works at Sparrows Point from their organization, about 24 years. The evidence was that he was a small man of compact frame, a man of great activity and energy, a hard and unwearied worker, devoting about twelve hours a day generally to his duties, and often working at night until 11 or 12 o’clock; that his health had always been good, and he was “looked upon as a pine knot.” The first and second pleas to the declaration were never promised as alleged, and never indebted as alleged. The third and fourth pleas alleged a breach of warranty in the application of the deceased and in the policy, that he was at the time of making the same free from mental or physical infirmity, defect or disease. The fifth plea alleged a breach of warranty made in the renewal of said policy, that the hazard was no greater at the date of renewal than at the date of the policy.

The sixth plea was that the death of Mr. Wood did not result directly, and independently of all other causes, through external, accidental or violent means. The seventh pica was that the death of Mr. Wood was due in whole or in part to certain diseases from which he had suffered long prior to the accident and which were in nowise caused by said accident. The plaintiff joined issue on the first and second pleas, and replied to the third and fourth pleas that Rufus K. Wood was not and never had been subject to any infirmity, defect ⁵⁸⁶ or disease, whether mental or physical, and that the warranties therein alleged were true. To the fifth plea she replied that Rufus X. Wood both at the issuance and the renewal of said policy was free from any infirmity, defect or disease; that the hazard was at no time greater than at the issuance of the policy, and that the alleged warranty was true at all times.

To the sixth plea she replied that the death of Rufus X. Wood was effected directly and independently of all other causes through external, accidental and violent means. And to the seventh plea she replied that the death of Rufos X. Wood was not due in whole or in part to any disease, but was caused by said accident. Issue was joined upon all these replications, and a verdict was rendered for the plaintiff for $5,500, and this appeal is from the judgment entered on that verdict. There were twenty exceptions to rulings on the evidence, and one to the ruling on the prayers.

The plaintiff offered but one prayer which was granted, viz, that if they found a verdict for the plaintiff the measure of damages should be the sum of $5,500, with interest in the discretion of the jury thereon from May 16th, 1909, the policy allowing ten per cent, per annum upon the principal sum of $5,000, for each renewal of the policy. The defendant offered eighteen prayers; the first, second, third and' fourth of which were in substance as follows: The first asks an instruction that under the pleadings there is no evidence legally sufficient to entitle the plaintiff to recover, and therefore the verdict must be for the defendant. The second, that it appears from the uncontradicted evidence that the death of the deceased did not result directly and independently of all other causes, -from bodily injuries sustained through external, violent, and accidental means, and therefore under the pleadings their verdict must be for the defendant. ⁵⁸⁷ The third, that as it appears from the uncontradicted evidence that the deceased at the time of the date of the policy, and renewal thereof, warranted that he was in sound condition, mentally and physically, and that in fact lie was not in sound condition mentally and physically at the time of the date of the policy and' the renewal thereof, and, further that such breach of warranty is a matter material to the risk, and, therefore, under the pleadings their verdict must he for the defendant. The fourth, that as it appears from the uncontradicted evidence that the deceased at the' time of renewal of said policy warranted that the hazard of said risk was no greater than, or different from that o-f the hazard at the date of the pol icy, and that in fact it was a greater and different hazard, and that such breach of warranty was a matter material to the risk, therefore under the pleadings the verdict must he for the defendant.

The fifth was as follows: “The defendant prays the Court to instruct the jury that a bodily injury is anything which works harm to, or impairs the physical parts, and is to be distinguished from the event causing the injury; that this event may he either disease, or accident, or both, and that by the true construction of the policy offered in evidence in this case, the only bodily injuries insured against are those which are effected directly and independently of all other causes, through external, accidental, and violent means; and if they are effected through any other event, either in whole or in part, the policy according to its plain provisions, does not cover the case, that is to say, the injury which is within the policy must he traceable exclusively to an accident, and as it appears from the uncontradicted evidence that disease was at least a contributing factor to the death of the deceased, their verdict under the pleadings must he for the defendant.” These prayers are all demurrers to the evidence, the first asserting the general proposition that under the pleadings there is no evidence legally sufficient to warrant a recovery. The second and fifth assert substantially the same, somewhat ⁵⁸⁸ narrower, proposition, viz, that it appears from the uncontradicted evidence that death did not result directly and independently of all other causes, from hodily injuries sustained through external, violent and accidental means. . The third and fourth each assert that the uncontradicted evidence shows a breach of a warranty in a matter material to the risk, thus defeating a recovery. The first prayer cannot he granted if there is any evidence, however slight, tending to show that the death was due solely to the accident, and none of the others can he granted, unless the evidence referred to therein was in fact absolutely uncontradicted.

It will he necessary therefore to examine carefully the evidence of the medical experts in the case. Dr. Johnson, plaintiff’s witness, on his examination in chief .in reply to a question to what he attributed Hr. Wood’s death, said: “I attribute his death to the accident followed by the pain, the wakefulness occasioned by it, the use of the anaesthetic, the chloroform, and the sudden movement which he made, a very dangerous thing in itself, which he made, after he had more or less recovered from the effects of the anaesthetic.” Later he testified that he'did not believe he would have died if he had not raised up on his elbows, and that a man organically sound, who raises up suddenly in bed after taking chloroform might fall back dead, and that if Mr. Wood had laid flat on his back he would not have died. Dr. Woodward, for the plaintiff, testified in chief that he had been practising medicine since 1880 and had been resident surgeon at Sparrow Point 22 years; that he knew Mr. Wood intimately and his health was uniformly excellent; that he administered the anaesthetic when the temporary splints were applied on the day of the accident, and that Dr. Johnson examined his heart before it was administered.

When asked to what he attributed Mr. Wood’s death he replied: “I attribute it to the accident. If he had not received the broken leg, the injury, I do not think he wouldhave died.” He was asked further: “To what, if any, other ⁵⁸⁹ cause besides fbe accident, do you attribute his death,” and he replied, “I think the sequences that entered into the case after the accident, were causes in addition to the accident to which death can be attributed. The fracture caused a great deal of pain and nervous exhaustion. He was depleted and weakened so that when the strain came he could not stand it.

He did not have strength enough to withstand the effort he made; it put too much strain on his heart.” Dr. Pelteldan, for the plaintiff testified that he had been practising medicine since 1893 and' had been at Sparrows Point nine years, and knew1 Hr. Wood; that he administered the anaesthetic the morning that he died, and that before doing so, he examined his chest, his heart and his pulse in the usual uTay without an instrument, and found him to be in good condition for that purpose. Dr. Hidgely B. Warfield, for the plaintiff, testified that he had been practising medicine since 1881; that he knew Mr. Wood, and on May 29th, 1901, he examined him carefully for life insurance in the Aew England Mutual Life Company ; that his examination, included the heart and the lungs, the urine as to the condition of the kidneys, and the history of whatever illnesses he might have had. That the result was he found nothing the matter with Mr. Wood, nothing abnormal whatever, and1 he was given his policy.

On cross-examination he said he was expected to discover whatever was discoverable by such an examination, but it was possible he might make a mistake; that arterio sclerosis is a relative thing, and that it was not to be expected that a man of Hr. Wood’s age would have very soft arteries, but that arterio sclerosis is one of the things looked for in examining men of his age; that it was possible Mr. Wood might have had it, without his discovering it, and this would be true in such examination of any man. Dr. Holland graduated from the University of Maryland in 189G, and Dr. Cone from the University of Pennsylvania in 1893, and they together performed the autopsy on Mr. Wood’s body evidence of arterio sclerosis in an advanced ⁵⁹⁰ and. without detailing their testimony it will suffice to say that they both testified positively that they found in Mr. Wood’s body evidence of arterio sclerosis in an advanced stage; in their opinion, of at least two years standing. Dr. Holland said it was the remote cause of his death, and Dr. Cone said it was the immediate cause.

Retween the evidence of Drs. Johnson, Woodward and Warfield, given in chief, and the evidence of Drs. Holland and Cone, there is a clear conflict as to the cause of death, and if it can be said, as the prayers we are now considering all substantially assert, that the uncontradicted evidence shows that Mr. Wood was suffering from a disease which was one of the causes contributing to his death, it can only be because upon cross-examination the evidence of those gentlemen was brought into confessed agreement with that of Drs. Holland and Cone.

Drs. Johnson and Woodward were cross-examined at great length, and with the vigor and skill demanded by the accident companies of their counsel and medical experts in resisting recoveries under the stringent and harsh provisions of their contracts. They were shown specimens of the arteries of Mr. Wood, taken at the autopsy and preserved in alcohol, and it was sought to extort from them the admission as a fact that these specimens showed the presence of arterio sclerosis as a contributing factor to the death of Mr. Wood. Dr. Johnson’s examination was especially searching and persistent.

He agreed that arteño sclerosis was a recognized disease, and that a post mortem examination might show a diseased condition of the heart which the best clinical examination might not reveal; but he denied that it was more nearly certain than a clinical examination, and declared his opinion that it was an error to suppose it to be so, and that at the autopsy he saw the heart, either in his own hand, or that of one of the physicians performing it, and there was no evidence of sclerosis visible to the naked eye. He was particularly pressed to say that he perceived in one of the specimens showed him, a thrombus, or clot, at a ⁵⁹¹ certain point in the coronary artery, bnt he refused to admit that he could perceive it, and he said assuming the existence of a clot at the point indicated, and which Drs. Holland and Cone testified to have been a cause contributing to the death, that it was quite possible that clot was formed at the seat of the fracture, as a sequence of the injury and was carried up in the circulation and lodged in the coronary artery. He admitted that if such a clot was there, his heart was not in a< good condition to resist strain upon it, as if no clot were there, but the record will be searched in vain for any admission by him that