Key Life Ins. Co. v. Gulledge, 5--4632
Decision Date | 09 September 1968 |
Docket Number | No. 5--4632,5--4632 |
Citation | 431 S.W.2d 245,245 Ark. 74 |
Parties | KEY LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY, Appellant, v. William GULLEDGE, Administrator, Appellee. |
Court | Arkansas Supreme Court |
George K. Cracraft Jr., Helena, for appellant.
W. G. Dinning Jr., Helena, for appellee.
This action was brought by the appellee to recover death benefits of $2,500 under an accident policy issued by the appellant upon the life of C. W. Gulledge. The trial court, hearing the case without a jury, entered a judgment for the plaintiff in the amount sued for, plus the statutory penalty and attorney's fee. The real question on appeal is whether there is substantial evidence to sustain the judgment.
Gulledge, while at work, accidentally injured his left hand to such an extent that the surgical amputation of two fingers became necessary. Owing to the patient's advanced age the surgeons administered a general anesthetic. The patient at once suffered a cardiac arrest; that is, his heart stopped beating. The surgeons quickly opened the patient's chest and restored the heart beat by massaging that organ for 20 or 30 seconds. After the chest opening was closed the doctors completed the operation.
Dr. Wise, one of the surgeons, testified that Gulledge Dr. Wise thought there was a causal connection between the heart failure and the injury to Gulledge's hand. As he put it: The doctor, however, did not profess to be absolutely certain about the cause of death. He candidly stated that 'without an autopsy, or even with it, we don't know the cause of death.' Dr. Barrow, the other surgeon, agreed with Dr. Wise and added that the administration of an anesthetic, more than anything else, causes or contributes to cardiac arrest.
An accidental injury may be found to have been the cause of death within the meaning of a policy like this one if it set in motion the chain of events that resulted in the...
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