Carnes v. Continental Cas. Co.
| Decision Date | 01 July 1968 |
| Docket Number | No. 11058,11058 |
| Citation | 212 So.2d 441 |
| Parties | Mrs. Don Clemmie CARNES, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. CONTINENTAL CASUALTY CO., Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | Court of Appeal of Louisiana — District of US |
Simon, Carroll, Fitzgerald & Fraser, Shreveport, for defendant-appellant.
Shuey & Smith, Shreveport, for plaintiff-appellee.
Before AYRES, BOLIN and PRICE, JJ.
From judgment in favor of Mrs. Don Clemmie Carnes against Continental Casualty Company in the sum of $25,000 for the accidental death of her husband Continental appeals.
The suit was based on the following provision of the insurance policy:
"Injury' wherever used in the policy means bodily injury caused by an accident occurring while the policy is in force as to the insured person and resulting directly and independently of all other causes in loss covered by the policy.'
The issue is whether plaintiff has proved by a preponderance of evidence that Mr. Carnes' death was due to an accident as defined in the policy of insurance.
Mr. Carnes, who resided in the suburbs of Shreveport, Louisiana, came home on the afternoon of April 13, 1965, in order to work in his garden. After putting on his work clothes he turned on the attic fan which drew insects from outside into the house due to a screen door having been left open. On April 14 he again desired to work in his garden. On this occasion he put on some nylon mesh shoes which he obtained from the floor of a closet in the house. After working in the garden he took a bath, ate his evening meal and went to bed. While eating breakfast on April 15 he became nauseated and had a slight temperature. He went to bed and his wife called their family physician, Dr. W. J. Hill, Jr. Dr. Hill did not think there was anything seriously wrong with Mr. Carnes but gave him medication and told him to contact him the next day if he did not improve. Carnes failed to improve and was again examined by Dr. Hill on April 16, at which time the patient told his physician he had been bitten on the left foot by an insect. His foot was red and swollen and he was given antibiotics to prevent infection. On April 17 he was again examined at his home by Dr. Hill who found little change in the patient's condition. On April 18 Dr. Hill became concerned about his patient's failure to improve and caused him to be admitted to a local hospital.
Dr. Paul Winder, dermatologist of Shreveport, was called in by the family physician to examine Mr. Carnes. Dr. Winder, being of the opinion Carnes had been bitten by a brown recluse spider, began giving him injections of steroid medication. While treating Mr. Carnes for the insect bite it was discovered he had a staphylococcus infection, which is generally caused by bacteria entering the body through an opening in the skin.
Mr. Carnes died in the hospital on May 18, 1965, from endocarditis, which was conceded to be directly due to the spreading of the 'staph' infection through his bloodstream reaching his heart and blocking a valve.
In addition to the testimony of Doctors Hill and Winder the medical evidence consisted of the testimony of Dr. Joe E. Holoubek, an internist of Shreveport, and Dr. Calvin J. Dillaha, a dermatologist of Little Rock, Arkansas.
As the direct cause of...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Jennings v. Louisiana & Southern Life Ins. Co.
...Sickness (consider tetanus) may be caused by injury, or by disease, or by defect of birth, or by other causes. In Carnes v. Continental Casualty Co., 212 So.2d 441 (1968), for example, the Second Circuit Court of Appeal found that a spider bite was the injury, when though the immediate caus......
-
Wells v. Minn. Life Ins. Co.
...infer that, based on the circumstantial evidence, a mosquito bit Melton, causing a wound or contusion. Cf. Carnes v. Cont'l Cas. Co. , 212 So.2d 441, 443 (La. Ct. App. 1968) ("While no one saw the spider bite [the insured] nor were any of the experts able to testify with absolute certainty ......
-
Murphy v. Continental Cas. Co.
...by the violent coughing, gagging, retching and vomiting caused by the lodging of the plum bolus. On authority of Carnes v. Continental Casualty Co., La.App., 212 So.2d 441, Appellant next contends that the phrase 'resulting directly and independently of all other causes' means the burden is......
-
Jennings v. Louisiana & Southern Life Ins. Co.
...in scope to our Workmen's Compensation Law are no more decisive than our own statute. Appellant also relies upon Carnes v. Continental Casualty Co., La.App., 212 So.2d 441, in which our Second Circuit held that death resulting from a spider bite was accidental. In addition, appellant relies......