Lentz v. Metropolitan Life Insurance Company

• Decision Date: 11 August 1970
• Docket Number: No. 28764 Summary Calendar.,28764 Summary Calendar.
• Citation: 428 F.2d 36
• Parties: Clare W. LENTZ, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. METROPOLITAN LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY, Defendant-Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit

428 F.2d 36 (1970)

Clare W. LENTZ, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. METROPOLITAN LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 28764 Summary Calendar.

United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit.

June 29, 1970.

Rehearing Denied August 11, 1970.

Frans J. Labranche, Jr., New Orleans, La., for appellant.

Peter G. Burke, New Orleans, La., for appellee.

Before THORNBERRY, CLARK and INGRAHAM, Circuit Judges.

THORNBERRY, Circuit Judge:

This is a suit by the wife of a deceased insured to recover the proceeds of a life insurance policy. The life insurance company defended by showing that the insured had made false statements in procuring the policy. After making careful findings of fact and conclusions of law, the district court rendered judgment for the insurance company. We affirm.¹

Sometime in early 1964 an agent of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company solicited Mr. Henry Lentz for a life insurance policy. Mr. Lentz purchased a ten-year term policy in the amount of $14,500. The insurance company's medical examiner, Dr. Charles J. Wheeler, examined the insured and completed the medical portions of the application, partly from Mr. Lentz' answers to his questions and partly from examination. One of the questions asked, "Have you ever had, or been told that you had, or been treated for, or sought advice concerning:" and listed a number of diseases, including "diabetes, sugar or albumin or blood in urine?" The answer reflected on the form is "No." Another question asks, "Have you had health examinations or check-ups in the past 5 years * * * other than in the course of your employment?" The answer on the application is "Yes," and the explanation given is "Dr. Bullard, Jeff. Hwy., periodically for common cold." Dr. Wheeler testified that he accurately reflected Mr. Lentz' answers on the application, which then became part of the contract of insurance. At the end of this portion of the application Mr. Lentz' signature appears, following this statement: "I have read the foregoing answers before signing. They have been correctly written as given by me, and are true and complete. There are no exceptions to any such answers except as stated herein."

The district court found as a fact that Mr. Lentz' answers to these questions were false, that Mr. Lentz knew they were false, and that he must have known that they were material to the risk undertaken by the insurance company. Specifically, the court found that Mr. Lentz had, about three years before making this application for insurance, consulted Dr. S. D. Bullard with complaints of shortness of breath, headaches and swollen ankles (ankle edema). Dr. Bullard found Mr. Lentz' blood pressure to be elevated (174/120-110), diagnosed his condition as hypertensive cardiovascular disease, advised Mr. Lentz accordingly, and prescribed medication. After this initial examination in 1961, Dr. Bullard examined Mr. Lentz once again in 1961, fifteen times in 1962, four times in 1963, and once in 1964, a few months before the insurance application. During these examinations, Mr. Lentz complained of a number of symptoms.

In 1962, Dr. Bullard had an urinalysis run of Mr. Lentz, with positive results, indicating a possible condition of diabetes. Therefore, Dr. Bullard had a fasting blood sugar test performed, and it produced a test result of 254 as compared with a normal upper limit of 120. The expert medical testimony before the district court indicates that it was unlikely that this result could have been caused by any medication Mr. Lentz was then taking. Dr. Bullard concluded that Mr. Lentz had diabetes mellitus, advised Mr. Lentz of this diagnosis, and prescribed medication and special diet. Dr. Bullard examined Mr. Lentz on approximately ten subsequent occasions. During this time, he varied the medication, discussed the condition thoroughly with Mr. Lentz, and had urinalyses and fasting blood sugar tests performed. The district court found that Mr. Lentz was an alert businessman who was fully aware of his medical conditions, both hypertension and diabetes.

On this appeal, Mrs. Lentz, the appellant, attacks the judgment of the district court as to both findings of fact and conclusions of law. This Court, of course, cannot set aside the findings of fact of a district court unless they are clearly erroneous. Rule 52(a), Fed.R. Civ.P.; Gibbs v. Tomlinson, 5th Cir. 1966, 362 F.2d 394, 397. As the Gibbs case indicates, a finding of fact is clearly erroneous if it is without substantial evidence to support it, or the district court misapprehended the effect of the evidence, or the reviewing court is left with the "definite and firm conviction" that a mistake has been committed after inspecting the record as a whole. Under this standard, the district court's findings that Mr. Lentz' representations that he had never been told that he had diabetes or been treated for it were false, that Mr. Lentz knew they were false and made them deceitfully, and that he knew they were material to the risk are not clearly erroneous. These findings are supported by weighty and substantial evidence, ...