Ellis B. Hall, Charles R. Hall and Eunice E. Hall v. The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company

WISDOM, Circuit Judge:

This wrongful death action, governed by Texas tort law under Erie, is unusual in that the instrumentality allegedly causing the wrongful death did not come into physical contact with the decedent.' Ellis B. Hall, husband of Mrs. Dovie Hall, and their two children, Charles and Eunice Hall sued the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Co., for the wrongful death of Mrs. Hall. Vernon’s Ann. Tex.Code, §§ 4675 and 5525. The theory of the plaintiffs’ case, simply stated, is that the defendant railroad negligently blocked the decedent’s access to the hospital to which she was…