National Life & Acc. Ins. Co. v. Hanna

195 S.W.2d 733, 1946 Tex. App. LEXIS 951
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMay 31, 1946
DocketNo. 13699.
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 195 S.W.2d 733 (National Life & Acc. Ins. Co. v. Hanna) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
National Life & Acc. Ins. Co. v. Hanna, 195 S.W.2d 733, 1946 Tex. App. LEXIS 951 (Tex. Ct. App. 1946).

Opinions

YOUNG, Justice.

Defendant’s judgment on the pleading was reversed (183 S.W.2d 1023). The instant jury trial to the merits, involving defendant’s liability on the policy, resulted in judgment for plaintiff inclusive of interest and attorneys’ fee.

Assured, Charles Mimms Hanna, died January 25, 1942, and appellant had paid appellee widow face value of the policy ($500), claiming such to be m full of its liability. This suit was for an additional $500, charging that the death of Mr. Hanna was by bodily injury, sustained solely through external, violent and accidental means within the meaning of policy recital, viz.: “Provisions as to Benefit for Death by Accidental Means. Upon receipt of Due Proof that the Insured after attainment of age 5 and prior to the attainment of age 70 has sustained bodily injury, solely through external, violent and accidental means, occurring after the date of the policy, and resulting in the death of the Insured within ninety days from the date of such bodily injury while the policy is in force, and while no premium is more than four weeks in arrears, the Company will pay, in addition to any other sums due under the Policy and subject to the provisions of the Policy, a Benefit for death by accidental means equal to the face amount of insurance stated in the Policy * *

The proof concerning cause of Mr. Hanna’s fatal illness was in all respects consistent with trial pleading, and the following digest of material testimony is taken from appellant’s brief:' Ethel Aliene Hanna testified that about noon, Friday, January 9, her husband came home complaining of a cold and chill; that he went to bed in afternoon, she calling Dr. Roland Brown who sent a prescription which she had filled (sulfanilamide and aspirin), administering same until that night, Mr. Hanna feeling no better, temperature remaining high. The doctor then came, diagnosing the ailment as influenza, advising regular dosages of the prescription. This continued until Sunday, patient getting worse, temperature rising from 102 to 104, witness so reporting to Dr. Brown who ordered hospitalization. Upon immediate X-ray of patient’s lungs, use of aforesaid medicine was stopped, the doctor saying: “Stop it. His lungs are as clear as mine. Stop it, that isn’t what’s wrong with him.” Hospital and medical services continued until her husband’s death two weeks later, Mrs. Flanna not then knowing the cause.

Dr. Brown, in written deposition from an overseas army base, stated that on first visit he found Hanna suffering with what appeared to be either influenza or virus pneumonia, patient complaining of chills and high fever, generalized aching, chest pains and slight cough, initial remedy being sulfanilamide therapy and aspirin to control fever; that such was the usual and customary treatment given by Dallas County physicians for the particular illness, and ordinarily a cure. In his opinion death was caused by toxic agranulocytosis (absence of white cells in the bone marrow and blo.od). He further testified that these drugs were taken orally (swallowed) by Mr. Hanna and death would not ordinarily be expected from their use either singly or in combination; that the cause of death was unforeseen and unexpected at time therapy began, such result in treatment of similar cases being quite rare; that the allergy or sensitivity of Mr. Hanna to the drugs was unknown to witness and a condition unusual to persons generally; stating that while it was reasonable to suppose the sulfanilamide and aspirin was responsible for Mr. Hanna’s death, much larger doses could be given over a longer time before causing agranulocytosis, it not being a reasonable expectation that the amount of drug given deceased would cause such result. No blood or other test was made during said illness beginning January 9, Dr. Brown answering twelfth cross-interrogatory: “To the best of my knowledge, there are no such tests that can be made prior to the administration of sulfanilamide to determine the effect the drug might have when given in thera *735 peutic doses. However, a complete blood count, Kline test and Huddleson agglutination test were made in my office on or about December 27, 1941. This blood count was entirely normal. It showed no signs of agranulocytosis, although he was already taking sulfanilamide. The Kline and Huddleson tests were negative.”

Points of appeal are threefold in scope, complaining of error (1) in the court’s refusal to grant motion of defendant for peremptory instruction and in submission of the cause on special issues, all evidence showing undisputably that defendant had paid appellee all that she was entitled to under said policy; (2) error in not submitting defendant’s special issues 1 to S, inclusive; (3) error of court in overruling defendant’s objections to certain questions and answers in the deposition of Dr. Brown, and in sustaining appellee’s objection to cross-interrogatory and answer No. 16.

Summarized, the jury answers were: (1) That Dr. Brown administered the usual and ordinary doses of sulfanilamide and aspirin to C. M. Hanna for the illness which he had prior to his death; (2) C. M. Hanna was sensitive to such doses of sulfanilamide and aspirin; (3) his death resulted solely from doses of sulfanilamide and aspirin prescribed by Dr. Brown; (4) such death, from the doses given, was unexpected. (Issues 5, 6, 7 and 8 relate to matters not brought into this appeal and are omitted.) Under issue 9 the amount of attorneys’ fee was fixed at $300.

The pleadings of both parties are the same as on first appeal, petition of Mrs. Hanna summing up above narrative of facts in allegations that her husband thereby sustained bodily injury, solely through external, violent and accidental means, resulting in death within meaning of the policy sued upon. That aforesaid fatality resulted from ordinary dosages of sul-fanilamide and aspirin, independently of all other causes, was not affirmatively challenged by defendant; expressly denying, however, that the occurrence constituted bodily injury whereby death was produced by external, violent and accidental means; alleging “as is admitted in the plaintiff’s petition, that his death resulted from the effects of sulfanilamide tablets which were taken voluntarily by the insured without knowledge that he was sensitive to such drug and defendant further alleges that the taking of such drug caused his death.”

The only distinguishing feature of these two appeals is that in the first, petitioner’s allegations were taken as true, while here the facts were developed upon a trial. We have already held in the prior litigation that if the death of Mr. Hanna was caused by the taking of a drug under doctor’s prescription, in ordinary manner and dosage usually resulting in good health, but, due to bodily sensitivity, producing instead an unforeseen and fatal result, such result was within above-quoted terms of the policy as a death by “accidental means.” Undoubtedly the law of the former case is controlling of the instant jury findings and undisputed facts. Burrell v. Adams, 104 Tex. 183, 135 S.W. 1156; Sutherland v. Friedenbloom, 200 S.W. 1099 (writ ref.); Central, etc., Bank v. First National Bank of Waco, Tex.Civ.App., 246 S.W. 111.

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Bluebook (online)
195 S.W.2d 733, 1946 Tex. App. LEXIS 951, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/national-life-acc-ins-co-v-hanna-texapp-1946.