Opinion of the Court. treacherous poison was transferred from the druggist's hands into his own system. We are not concerned with the moral wrong of one who turns a deaf ear to the appeals of a wife trying to save her husband from destruction and for greed of gain sells to that husband a drug that is sure to spell his mental and physical ruin, rather are we concerned with the legal aspect of the claim that it is the right of an individual to control his personal affairs regardless of consequences to others. The underlying purpose of our whole social compact is to prevent that very thing, and the principle is as old as the law itself, that every person must control his own conduct and his own property so as to do as little injury as possible to his fellow. From the facts found by the jury the defendant must have known the growing imbecility of Cooper and the gradual impairment of his power of resistance to the use of this drug. He must have known that Cooper had reached that stage in his course of mental and physical destruction that just so sure as he sold him the poison, Cooper would inject it into his veins. In view of this condition of affairs any warning to Cooper of the dangerous qualities of the drug would be but an absurd attempt to evade responsibility for his own wrongful act. As well might he intentionally detach a heavy weight from its support on high, that in falling would necessarily strike and injure another, and then say it was not my act in detaching this weight, but it was the force of gravity that caused it to fall to earth, and its falling was the proximate cause of the injury. Individuals must be held to Opinion of the Court. have contemplated the natural and probable result of their own acts purposely and intentionally committed, and it would be just as reasonable to say that due regard for the rights of others would not require the individual in the ordering of his own affairs to take into account the force of gravity, as to say that one, who sells morphine to a person known by the seller to be a helpless victim of this drug, is not required to contemplate the natural and probable result of the use the unfortunate purchaser is sure to make of it. In the case of Wells v. Cook, 16 Ohio St., 72, this court declared that: "The influences of human conduct, good or bad, are far-reaching, and are often seen and felt in consequences exceedingly remote, but uncertain and complicated. It is simply impossible that municipal law should take cognizance of all these consequences." But in this case the consequences are not exceedingly remote. They are the natural and necessary consequences that follow from the defendant's total disregard not only of his moral but his legal duty to his fellow-man. In the case of Holleman v. Harward, 119 N. Car., 150, it was held that: "The sale of laudanum as a beverage to a married woman, knowing that it is destroying her mind and body and causing loss to her husband, when continued after his repeated warnings and protest, renders the seller liable to him for the damages which he sustains on account of the loss of her services." In that case it was argued on behalf of the defendant that there was no legal obligation resting upon him not to sell the drug, nor upon the wife not to use - Opinion of the Court. it; that the husband could not prevent his wife from buying and using it; that the duty of the wife to give to her husband her love and companionship was a moral duty, but that this moral duty could not be enforced by any power of the law. The court answered this contention in the following language: "Notwithstanding the claim of the defendants, we think this action rests upon a principle a principle not new, but one sound and consistent. The principle is this: 'Whoever does an injury to another is liable in damages to the extent of that injury. It matters not, whether the injury is to the property, or the person, or the rights, or the reputation, of another.' The defendants owed to plaintiff the legal duty not to sell to his wife opium in the form of large quantities of laudanum as a beverage, knowing that she was, by using them, destroying her mind and body, and thereby causing loss to the husband." *** In the case of Hoard v. Peck, 56 Barb., 202, it was held that the husband could maintain a right of action for damages against a druggist for selling laudanum to his wife to be used by her as a beverage, in consequence of which use by the wife she became sick and emaciated and her mind was affected so that she was unable to perform her duties as a wife, and her affection became alienated from the husband and he lost her society and was compelled to expend money in medical and other attendance upon her. In that case the claim was made by the defendant that the selling of laudanum is a legal business, and that the husband could have no right of action for damages for Opinion of the Court. such sale, but the court held that although there was no statute in the state of New York prohibiting the selling of laudanum, either as a beverage or for any other purpose, that it did not necessarily follow that every sale of it, in all cases is legal, but on the contrary that its lawfulness or unlawfulness depends on the circumstances of the sale, and the use and purposes to which it is applied. It was further held in that case that it was no defense to the action "that it was her hand that held the potion to her lips; that the druggist by the act of handing it to her for that purpose is as much responsible for the consequences as though he assisted her directly in pouring it down her throat. * * If one furnishes the means, with the knowledge that it is to be unlawfully used, assenting to such use, he is answerable for the consequences, if the design is carried out." The jury in its answer to interrogatories propounded by the defendant found that the defendant was not actuated by any feeling of hatred or actual malice towards the plaintiff. That might be true in every action for damages for loss of consortium, and is probably true in every case where loss of consortium is accomplished by seduction or alienation of affection, but hatred and ill will of the injured person is not necessarily an ingredient of legal malice. If the conduct of the defendant was intentional and wrongful and without any just cause or excuse, malice would be implied. "The term malice, as applied to torts, does not necessarily mean that which must proceed from a spiteful, malignant or revengeful disposition, but Syllabus. a conduct injurious to another, though proceeding from an ill-regulated mind, not sufficiently cautious before it occasions an injury to another. 11 Serg. & R., 39, 40." This definition fully comprises all the elements of malice as applied to torts, and was adopted by this court in the case of Westlake v. Westlake, supra. The jury upon the issues joined by the pleadings returned a general verdict in favor of the plaintiff. There is nothing in the special findings of the jury that conflicts with this general verdict. Therefore, the motion of the defendant for judgment upon the special findings was properly overruled. The judgment of the circuit court is affirmed. Judgment affirmed. SPEAR, PRICE and JOHNSON, JJ., concur. THE STATE, Ex rel. Yaple, v. Creamer, State insurance fund-For benefit of injured-And dependents of killed employes-Act of legislature, 102 O. L., 524, is valid— Not repugnant to federal or state constitution. The act entitled "An act to create a state insurance fund for the benefit of injured, and the dependents of killed employes," etc., 102 O. L., 524, is a valid exercise of legislative power not repugnant to the federal or state constitutions, or to any limitation contained in either. (No. 13300-Decided February 6, 1912.) |
