21 S.E.2d 455 | Ga. Ct. App. | 1942
In an action upon a policy of life-accident insurance which provided that the insurer would not be liable for the death of the insured unless the death resulted directly and exclusively of all other causes from bodily injury sustained solely through external, violent, and accidental means, the insurer is not liable for the death of the insured where the properly certified death certificate, which is in evidence, shows that the primary cause of the death was coronary thrombosis, and that the contributing causes were hypertension and arteriosclerosis, and where there is no competent evidence of probative value introduced to rebut the prima facie case made by the introduction of the death certificate, or to show that any of said causes of death resulted from the accidental injuries.
The insurance company introduced in evidence a properly certified copy of the death certificate signed by Dr. Timberlake. In that certificate the cause of the death of Jack Reese was stated as follows: "Primary cause of death: Coronary thrombosis. Contributing causes: hypertension, arteriosclerosis." The certificate also contained the following statement: "On March 5, 1941, the deceased was brought to my office with fracture of transverse process of third and fourth vertebrae; deep jagged laceration of palm of left hand, with complete dislocation of left middle and ring fingers; tearing of metacarpophalangeal palmer ligaments, and multiple contusions and abrasions of body, due to an accident which he sustained on the same date when he got shocked by electricity and fell six feet into a pile of bricks. [He] was making normal recovery from injury and died suddenly of heart failure — was up out of bed at time of death." Dr. Timberlake testified that he signed the death certificate; that "coronary thrombosis" means heart failure and is caused by a blood clot in the artery to the heart. He testified further: "I only gave hypertension as a contributing cause of *630 his death. I say he had coronary thrombosis. . . He didn't die from the accident itself. He died three weeks later but when he was in the hospital being treated for broken bones. He was recovering from the accident. . . As to whether or not I had any doubt about his having had hypertension before the accident . . I would judge he had it. . . Any one suffering from high blood pressure can die at any time, regardless of any accident. The only connection I make of the accident with his death was that itmight have increased his high blood pressure." (Italics ours.) The evidence was undisputed that at the time of the accident the insured was suffering from a two years' pre-existing heart trouble and high blood pressure. In our opinion the undisputed evidence, including the death certificate, demanded a finding that the pre-existing diseases of the insured either caused his death or substantially contributed thereto. Therefore, under the provisions of the policy that the company would be liable for the death of the insured only if the death resulted, directlyand exclusively of all other causes, from an accidental injury, a verdict for the defendant was demanded.
It is true that Dr. Timberlake, the only physician who testified, did not expressly state that in his opinion the accident to the insured did not accelerate or aggravate his injury nor hasten his death. Neither did he testify that in his opinion the accident did accelerate or aggravate the injury or hasten the death. However, the burden was on the plaintiff to prove that the death resulted directly and exclusively of allother causes from the injuries sustained in the accident. Furthermore, when the defendant introduced in evidence a properly certified copy of the death certificate, a prima facie case was established that the cause of the death was the cause given in the certificate. Code § 88-1212. Therefore, the further burden was then upon the plaintiff to overcome the prima facie case by the introduction of competent evidence of probative value showing that the cause of death was not the cause stated in the death certificate. Woodruff v. American Mutual Liability InsuranceCo.,
The case of Hall v. General Accident AssuranceCorporation,
Judgment reversed. MacIntyre and Gardner, JJ., concur.