Sample v. Murray Hospital
| Decision Date | 04 November 1936 |
| Docket Number | 7580. |
| Citation | 62 P.2d 241,103 Mont. 195 |
| Parties | SAMPLE v. MURRAY HOSPITAL. |
| Court | Montana Supreme Court |
Appeal from District Court, Silver Bow County; Frank L. Riley Judge.
Action by Josie Sample, as administratrix of the estate of Bert F Sample, deceased against the Murray Hospital. From a judgment in favor of the plaintiff, the defendant appeals.
Cause remanded, with instructions to grant new trial.
James A. Poore, of Butte, for appellant.
N. A Rotering, of Butte, for respondent.
This is an appeal from a judgment of the district court of Silver Bow county. The action was instituted by Josie Sample, as administratrix of the estate of Bert F. Sample, deceased. The cause was tried by the court with a jury, and a verdict of $3,000 was returned in favor of plaintiff.
A motion was made to strike out certain parts of the complaint a demurrer was interposed, and finally a motion for an instructed verdict was made. Thereafter the jury was instructed and returned its verdict. Judgment was entered; a motion for a new trial was made and overruled; and an appeal was perfected to this court by defendant.
The essential facts are as follows: In April, 1933, Bert F. Sample, husband of plaintiff, was in the employ of the Anaconda Copper Mining Company as a watchman at the Orphan Girl mine in Butte. He was 67 years of age and had been a miner in the Butte mines for many years; he died on April 24. The cause of his death was terminal pneumonia, superinduced by silicosis, or miner's consumption.
It appears that a fire occurred immediately adjacent to the residence of the deceased on April 8. This fire destroyed some neighboring buildings and to some extent damaged the house of the deceased; the family, however, continued to occupy the house, or at least a part of it. During the progress of the fire, deceased exposed himself to the cold and other adverse conditions, and as a result contracted the cold which later progressed into pneumonia and caused his death. After the fire he worked as watchman until the 11th of the month, when his cold became so bad that he went to bed upon returning from work. He was in bed a few days before a doctor was called. On the 14th the plaintiff called the Murray Hospital, reported the sickness, and asked that a doctor be sent.
Deceased was entitled to medical and hospital services by virtue of a contract existing between his employer and the defendant Murray Hospital. This contract was entered into in accordance with the permissive provisions of the Montana Workmen's Compensation Act, section 2907 et seq., Revised Codes. Under the terms of the contract the hospital company agreed to furnish medical and hospital services to the employees of the employing company for the sum of $1 per man per month. The sum was deducted from the wages of all employees by the mining company and by it paid to the hospital company. It is admitted that the deceased had paid for and was entitled to all of such benefits during all of the time of his last illness.
Upon receiving the call, the hospital officials sent Dr. McHeffie, a member of the Murray Hospital staff, to attend the sick man. He found him suffering from "silicosis pulmonary," and characterized the condition as the fourth stage of silicosis. He testified that the patient was suffering from a very advanced case of miner's consumption. The doctor called at intervals after that time until the death of the deceased on the 24th. On the 20th, or shortly before, deceased requested plaintiff to go to the Murray Hospital and ask that he be admitted there as a patient. It appears that this request was predicated upon the belief of deceased and members of his family that the house was not a fit place of occupancy for him in his then condition. Members of the family testified that while the house had not been destroyed, it had been injured by fire and water and that there was a generally damp condition of the house itself and the contents, and particularly of the walls and bedclothing. The request was made of a Mr. Flood, an official of the hospital. Mr. Flood advised plaintiff that deceased could not be received into the hospital without the advice and consent of his physician; he promised to take the matter up with Dr. McHeffie and advise the plaintiff later. It appears that as a result of the application, Dr. McHeffie did go to the house on the evening of the 20th; he examined the patient and finally decided that he should not be removed to the hospital. There is some controversy as to just what occurred at that time. The doctor claims that deceased was in such a condition--a state of partial coma--that it was unwise and unsafe to move him, and that therefore he did not make a favorable recommendation of the request. Members of the family and friends testified that the doctor said that the patient was getting along all right and that it was not necessary to move him. However that may be, the fact remains that he was not removed.
Apparently the doctor reported the matter with his recommendation to the hospital officials, and the hospital advised plaintiff of the result. After receiving the answer of the hospital, plaintiff communicated the facts to her husband. At that time she asked him whether she should take him to St. James Hospital, another hospital in Butte, because, as she said, "I thought he ought to have hospital care." Deceased refused to submit to removal to the St. James Hospital, giving as his reason that he was paying into the Murray Hospital and that he ought to go there. Plaintiff said: "I guess that is the only reason I didn't take him there." She testified that she had the money, and indicated that there was no reason for failing to take him to St. James other than that he was under contract with the Murray Hospital. It appeared that St. James Hospital was a general hospital comparable in essential particulars to the Murray Hospital. It is located in Butte almost as convenient to the home of deceased as was the Murray Hospital. At that time there were many vacant beds and adequate accommodations. The chief surgeon of St. James Hospital testified at the trial. He explained that the St. James Hospital was an eleemosynary institution, paid no taxes, and received all patients regardless of whether they had money or not. He said that there never had been refusal on the part of the hospital to admit a patient, and that if application had been made by or on behalf of the deceased, he would have been admitted.
The complaint contained the usual formal allegations, and recited the general fact conditions hereinbefore outlined. The cause of action was based specifically upon the refusal of the Murray Hospital to admit deceased as a patient, all of which was alleged to have been in defiance and violation of the existing contract so to receive employees of the mining company. There were also allegations as to the conditions in the home. A motion was interposed to strike these allegations from the complaint. It was denied. This matter constitutes one of the assignments of error.
In the course of the trial the witnesses for plaintiff testified as to the unsafe condition of the home as a result of the fire and the water used to extinguish it.
The real issue in the case involved the application of deceased for admission into the hospital and the refusal to receive him. Defendant urged at all times that it was the duty of deceased, when refused admission into the Murray Hospital, to seek hospitalization elsewhere, particularly at the St. James Hospital.
While the complaint was formulated upon the theory of general damages, as the trial progressed the matter finally resolved itself into a controversy involving the additional pain and suffering alleged to have been endured by deceased by reason of the failure of the Murray Hospital to receive him. That in reality was one of the main issues submitted to the jury.
The court instructed the jury that no damages could be assessed by reason of the death of deceased, and that the only damages they were authorized to assess were those which would have compensated the deceased for additional pain or suffering endured by him between the time he was refused medical care and hospital accommodations and the time he died, if in fact such accommodations were refused.
A motion for an instructed verdict in favor of defendant was made at the close of all of the evidence and overruled.
Numerous designations of error are designated; they, however, involve but a few propositions. Defendant, as appellant here, strenuously urges that the motion for an instructed verdict should have been sustained, and further urges that other errors occurred in the instructions given to the jury.
The motion for an instructed verdict directed the attention of the court to the contention...
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