Court Opinion

ID: 9580012
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 22:00:48.414672+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:35:57.593366
License: Public Domain

Gregory, Justice
(dissenting) :
I respectfully dissent. I agree with the majority that the scope of review in this case is such that we may find facts according to our view of the preponderance of the evidence. *614However, the facts in this case lead me to believe that the trial judge correctly awarded attorneys’ fees to the respondent.
The question presented is this: did Pilot refuse to pay respondent’s claim within 90 days of demand “without reasonable cause or in bad faith” ? South Carolina Code § 37-167.1 (Cum. Supp. 1975). I think it did.
Pilot’s refusal to pay was based on a hospital admission report by Dr. Blackwell and one section of respondent’s claim that was based on the hospital report. These documents inadvertently implied that the cancer had existed in June 1974 and that respondent and Dr. Blackwell knew that fact. However, Dr. Blackwell wrote in two letters, one to respondent’s attorney and the other to Pilot, that neither he nor respondent knew of the cancer before October 15, 1974. He wrote that in June 1974 he had treated respondent for viral gastroenteritis. He said that at that time she had had a minor enlargement of the glands, which he had associated with the gastroenteritis. He had attached no significance to the swelling; he made no note of it in his medical records and expected it to regress. Dr. Blackwell’s timely clarification was summarily rejected by Pilot.
The majority surmises, while describing the glandular enlargement of June 1974, “This is the lymph node which was proved to be cancerous in October.” I view the evidence differently. Nowhere in the record is it established as fact that nodes which were swollen in June were found to be cancerous in October. While treating Mrs. Baker for the viral gastroenteritis in June, Dr. Blackwell did tell her that if the swelling persisted, she should have it checked. But in the subsequent visit of July 30 she did not mention any swelling and Dr. Blackwell did not notice any. This implies that the swelling did not persist. The most reasonable inference is that the node which was swollen in June was not “proved to be cancerous in October.”
*615The trial judge found, in his order awarding fees, that “the defendant seized upon a statement given by a doctor upon admission of the plaintiff to the hospital, and based its refusal to pay upon the statement, ignoring all the surrounding circumstances, in spite of the plaintiff’s attempts to explain.” This is a fair summary of the evidence, and I agree with it. Pilot was “without reasonable cause” in refusing to pay.
I would affirm the judgment of the trial court and award an additional $500.00 attorneys’ fee to respondent as a reasonable sum for perfecting this appeal.
Lewis, C. J., concurs.