Orrill v. Prudential Life Ins. Co. of America, 22048.
Decision Date | 05 May 1942 |
Docket Number | No. 22048.,22048. |
Parties | ORRILL v. PRUDENTIAL LIFE INS. CO. OF AMERICA. |
Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of California |
Don Carlos Barrett, of San Francisco, Cal., for plaintiff.
Knight, Boland & Riordan and Burton L. Walsh, all of San Francisco, Cal., for defendant.
Plaintiff, the widow of a retired army officer, sues defendant to recover $10,000 on the accidental death benefit provision of a policy of life insurance in which her husband, Captain Orrill, was the insured and she was the beneficiary. The face of the policy provided for the payment, upon proof of death of insured, of $10,000, which has been paid. The question for decision is whether Captain Orrill's death was caused solely by accidental means entitling plaintiff to the payment of an additional $10,000.
The policy was issued on September 10, 1926, to the insured, at the age of 49, when he was a Captain of Infantry in the United States Army. In October, 1934, Captain Orrill applied to the War Department for retirement because of physical incapacity. The report of physical examination made by two physicians of the Medical Corps of the United States Army shows that the Captain was then 58 years of age, height 69 inches, weight 169 pounds. That he was suffering from hardening of the arteries with severe cerebral involvement; serious heart disease and chronic arthritis; dental condition, pyorrhea with slight alveolar resorption.
The report closes with the statement: "We are further of the opinion that the cause of the incapacity is an impaired cardio-vascular system, particularly the cerebral arteries, from degenerative changes; that the cause is an incident of service and that the incapacity originated in October, 1933."
The Army Retirement Board found that Captain Orrill was incapacitated from active service; "that the cause of the incapacity is arteriosclerosis, generalized, moderately severe, with cerebral involvement, accompanied by moderate arterial hypotension; that the incapacity is permanent."
On April 20, 1935, Captain Orrill applied to defendant for total and permanent disability benefits under the terms of the policy. Under his own hand applicant described his condition as follows: Disability benefits were granted and paid to the insured until his death on May 5, 1940, a period of 62 months.
On February 29, 1940, Captain Orrill complained to his wife of an aching jaw. He called upon Dr. John H. Clayton, a dentist, and had a lower tooth extracted. "The condition of the mouth appeared to be all right," testified the doctor at the Coroner's inquest, "and the tooth I extracted was a lower tooth and it was very pyorrhetic".
On March 9th Captain Orrill entered Letterman Hospital, San Francisco, for treatment of osteomyelitis of the lower jaw following tooth extraction. Dr. Louis K. Mantell, of the United States Army, testified:
The Coroner's certificate of death shows that "death was due to natural causes: osteomyelitis of lower jaw following teeth extraction, multiple old and recent infarction of myocardium due to arteriosclerotic coronary occlusion."
The general autopsy findings showed "the body of a well developed, poorly nourished, white male, 5 feet, 7 inches long, weighing 103 pounds, and anatomically about 63 years old."
Dr. Raymond O. Hart, Lieutenant-Colonel in the United States Army, performed the autopsy. The Doctor did not know Captain Orrill in life. The post mortem showed "scars in the myocardium, which are indicative of coronary occlusions." "He had abscesses in the...
To continue reading
Request your trial-
Kirk v. Financial Sec. Life Ins. Co.
...1929), 32 F.2d 479, 480 (Mo.); Kerns v. Aetna Life Ins. Co. (8th Cir. 1923), 291 F. 289, 290 (S.D.); Orrill v. Prudential Life Ins. Co. of America (N.D.Cal.1942), 44 F.Supp. 902, 904; Brown v. United States Casualty Co. (N.D.Cal.1899), 95 F. 935, 936; Bennett v. Life & Casualty Insurance Co......
-
Hawes v. Kansas Farm Bureau
...Cir.1929), 32 F.2d 479, 480 (Mo.); Kerns v. Aetna Life Ins. Co. (8th Cir.1923), 291 F. 289, 290 (S.D.); Orrill v. Prudential Life Ins. Co. of America (N.D.Cal.1942), 44 F.Supp. 902, 904; Brown v. United States Casualty Co. (N.D.Cal.1899), 95 F. 935, 936; Bennett v. Life & Casualty Insurance......