McCahill v. New York Transportation Co.
New York Court of Appeals
94 N.E. 616 (1911)
An alcoholic decedent was struck and injured by a taxi and died two days later in the hospital from delirium tremens, a condition usually triggered by alcohol withdrawal. At trial, a physician testified the injuries had sped up the onset of that condition. The jury found the cab company (defendant) negligent and found no contributory negligence on the decedent's part, and the cab company appealed, arguing its negligence was not the proximate cause of death because the decedent's own alcoholism could have caused delirium tremens and death at some later point regardless.
Whether a defendant is responsible for the direct effects of his negligent acts, even if those effects would have occurred at a later date without the defendant's involvement because of a plaintiff's preexisting condition.