Cheney v. Bell Nat. Life Ins. Co., 69

Citation556 A.2d 1135,315 Md. 761
Decision Date01 September 1987
Docket NumberNo. 69,69
PartiesTheresa M. CHENEY v. BELL NATIONAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY. ,
CourtCourt of Appeals of Maryland

Joseph A. Miklasz (James P. Mara, on the brief), Glen Burnie, for appellant.

Ira L. Oring (George F. Pappas and Melnicove, Kaufman, Weiner, Smouse & Garbis, P.A., on the brief), Baltimore, for appellee.

Argued before MURPHY, C.J., and ELDRIDGE, COLE, RODOWSKY, McAULIFFE, ADKINS and BLACKWELL, JJ.

McAULIFFE, Judge.

This case involves the proper interpretation of a policy of insurance. The controlling facts are not in dispute. Petitioner is the surviving spouse of Anthony C. Cheney, (hereinafter "the insured"), who died in 1982. There was in effect at the time of his death a policy of insurance issued by respondent, under the terms of which respondent agreed to pay a designated amount in the event of the accidental death of the insured, subject to certain exclusions. The exclusion involved here is as follows:

The policy does not apply to any loss ... caused by or resulting from ... sickness or disease or medical or surgical treatment therefore (sic) except pyogenic infection which shall occur through an accidental cut or wound....

The insured, who was 24 at the time of his death, was a hemophiliac. Hemophilia is an inherited disorder of the blood, characterized by a tendency toward excessive internal or external bleeding, and caused by a defect in the coagulating power of the blood. Tragically, the insured was infected with the AIDS virus 1 as a result of a blood transfusion he received as part of the routine treatment of his hemophilia. The precise cause of death was respiratory arrest due to a form of pneumonia, but it is clear that this was a direct consequence of the AIDS virus.

Petitioner filed a claim for payment under the policy, alleging that her husband's death was due to an accident. Respondent refused payment, and petitioner filed suit in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City. Respondent asked for summary judgment, stating that it would assume for the purpose of the motion that an accidental injury had occurred, and contending that the exclusion from coverage applied because: 1) death resulted from a sickness or disease, or 2) death resulted from medical treatment for a sickness or disease. Judge Elsbeth Bothe granted the motion for summary judgment, apparently finding respondent to be correct on both points. Petitioner appealed, and the Court of Special Appeals affirmed, agreeing with the reasoning of the trial judge, and also suggesting that there had been no "accident" within the meaning of the policy. Cheney v. Bell Nat'l Life Ins., 70 Md.App. 163, 520 A.2d 402 (1987). We granted certiorari, and we affirm.

We shall assume, as did the parties and trial judge, that the requirement of an accidental injury was met. Respondent made it clear that it was grounding its motion on that contention, and thus the point was neither presented to nor decided by the trial judge. Although the rule may be different in other situations, ordinarily we will not affirm the granting of a summary judgment for a reason not relied upon by the trial judge. Henley v. Prince George's County, 305 Md. 320, 333, 503 A.2d 1333 (1986).

We begin with a consideration of respondent's contention that coverage is excluded because death resulted from a sickness or disease. Beguiling in its apparent simplicity, the argument is nevertheless wrong. Within the context of an accident policy, this Court held more than 80 years ago that:

[W]here the death is from a disease which was itself caused by the accident, the latter is to be regarded as the true and predominant cause of the death, and the disease as a mere link in the chain of causation, and the death is to be regarded as having resulted solely from the accident independently of all other causes. General Acc. Co. v. Homely, 109 Md. 93, 99, 71 A. 524 (1908).

See also 1B Appleman, Insurance Law and Practice § 394 (1981). Assuming that the transfusion of contaminated blood or blood products into the insured constituted an accidental injury within the meaning of the policy, the AIDS and pneumonia caused thereby are considered "link(s) in the chain of causation," and the accidental injury remains the cause of death.

Respondent's second contention presents more difficult problems. The determination of whether death resulted from medical treatment for sickness or disease involves two separate questions--first, when did the accidental injury occur; and second, is congenital hemophilia suffered by the insured a "sickness or disease" within the meaning of the policy?

The first question, involving the time of the accidental injury, flows from an interesting effort on the part of petitioner to avoid the "medical treatment" exclusion. If, as it would appear at first blush, the accidental injury occurred when the contaminated blood was injected into the insured, then death did result from medical treatment for hemophilia, and if hemophilia is a sickness or disease, the exclusion applies. If, on the other hand, and as petitioner contends, the operative accident occurred when the blood was drawn from an infected donor, then the accident causing death occurred before any medical treatment of the insured, and the exclusion would not apply. Creative as the argument may be, it is not persuasive.

The policy provision defining injury and the scope of coverage provides as follows:

The term "injury" as used in the policy shall mean accidental bodily injuries from which loss results directly and independently of all other causes, provided such injuries are sustained by an insured person while the policy is in force with respect to such person.

When the loss is death, that loss must occur "within 365 days after the date of accident causing such loss." And, as we have seen, loss resulting from medical treatment for sickness or disease is excluded. These policy provisions obviously contemplate an "accidental bodily injury," i.e., an accidental injury 2 to the person of an insured that results in a loss. However accidental the taking of contaminated blood from a donor may have been, that occurrence could not qualify as an accidental bodily injury within the meaning of this policy.

The accidental bodily injury that the parties have assumed to exist for the purpose of deciding respondent's motion for summary judgment is the injection of the contaminated blood or blood products into the body of the insured. The final question presented, therefore, is whether the death which resulted from that accidental bodily injury is a "loss ... resulting from ... sickness or disease or medical or surgical treatment." Without question, death resulted from the transfusion and, therefore, the loss resulted from medical treatment for hemophilia. The question that remains is whether this insured's hemophilia was a sickness or disease within the meaning of the policy. Because there is no factual dispute in the evidence, and no suggestion that parol or other extrinsic evidence exists in this case, the question of interpretation is for the Court. Pacific Indem. v. Interstate Fire & Cas., 302 Md. 383, 389, 488 A.2d 486 (1985).

In the interpretation of the meaning of an insurance contract, we accord a word its usual, ordinary and accepted meaning unless there is evidence that the parties intended to employ it in a special or technical sense. Id. at 388, 488 A.2d 486. Mut. Life Ins. Co. v. Murray, 111 Md. 600, 605, 75 A. 348 (1909). Maryland does not follow the rule, adopted in many jurisdictions, that an insurance policy is to be construed most strongly against the insurer. Rather, following the rule applicable to the construction of contracts generally, we hold that the intention of the parties is to be ascertained if reasonably possible from the policy as a whole. In the event of an ambiguity, however, extrinsic and parol evidence may be considered. If no extrinsic or parol evidence is introduced, or if the ambiguity remains after consideration of extrinsic or parol evidence that is introduced, it will be construed against the insurer as the drafter of the instrument. Pacific Indem., supra, 302 Md. at 388-89, 488 A.2d 486; C & H Plumbing v. Employers Mut., 264 Md. 510, 512, 287 A.2d 238 (1972); Mateer v. Reliance Ins. Co., 247 Md. 643, 648, 233 A.2d 797 (1967).

The word in question is "disease," and the issue is whether hemophilia is a disease within the meaning of the policy exclusion. Petitioner argues that in the strict medical or scientific sense, hemophilia is not a disease, but is a...

To continue reading

Request your trial
156 cases
  • Bayside Fire Prot., LLC v. Everest Indem. Ins. Co.
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — District of Maryland
    • 21 Marzo 2022
    ...a whole and, if necessary, after admitting and considering any relevant parol evidence." Id. (citing Cheney v. Bell Nat'l Life Ins. Co. , 315 Md. 761, 766–67, 556 A.2d 1135, 1138 (1989) ).The only extrinsic evidence submitted was by Bayside in the Motion for Partial Summary Judgment. Baysid......
  • North River Ins. Co. v. Mayor and City Council of Baltimore
    • United States
    • Court of Appeals of Maryland
    • 1 Septiembre 1995
    ...or parol evidence ... it will be construed against the insurer as the drafter of the instrument." Cheney v. Bell Nat'l Life Ins. Co., 315 Md. 761, 766-67, 556 A.2d 1135, 1138 (1989). " 'A word's ordinary signification is tested by what meaning a reasonably prudent layperson would attach to ......
  • Hammer v. Lumberman's Mut. Cas. Co.
    • United States
    • Supreme Court of Connecticut
    • 17 Abril 1990
    ...(1988); see also Simmons v. Provident Mutual Life Ins. Co. of Philadelphia, 496 So.2d 243 (Fla.App.1986); Cheney v. Bell National Life Ins. Co., 315 Md. 761, 556 A.2d 1135 (1989); Beveridge v. Hartford Accident & Indemnity Co., 95 Or.App. 658, 770 P.2d 943 We, therefore, do not agree with t......
  • Fisher v. U.S. Fidelity & Guar. Co.
    • United States
    • Court of Special Appeals of Maryland
    • 1 Septiembre 1990
    ...of the omnibus clause in the instant case was a jury function. The Court of Appeals, in its recent case of Cheney v. Bell Nat'l Life Ins. Co., 315 Md. 761, 556 A.2d 1135 (1989), was faced with deciding whether or not hemophilia was a "disease" within the meaning of a policy exclusion. Chene......
  • Request a trial to view additional results

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT