| Venue: | IA SC |
| Facts: | Loras has a history of coronary disease and insulin-dependent diabetes. He'd had a heart attack a few years back. Then he had a car smash. Bruised chest, fractured ankle. Six days later, he has another heart attack and dies. |
| Posture: | Executor sues the other driver. Trial court refuses the "eggshell plaintiff" instruction. Judgment for plaintiff on injuries, but not death. Reversed on appeal. Appeal. |
| Issue: | Was the refusal to give the eggshell instruction reversible error? |
| Holding: | Yes. The reversal is affirmed. :) Remanded for new trial. |
| Rule: | A tortfeasor whose act, superimposed on a prior latent condition, results in injury may be liable for the full extent of the harm. |
| Reasoning: | The rule is that the injury, not the dormant condition, is the proximate cause of the harm. |
| Dicta: | |