California Court Rules Death From Heroin Overdose Covered Under ‘Accidental Death’ Insurance Policy

On July 10, 2015, a federal district court in California ruled that an insured person’s death from a self-administered heroin overdose was accidental and therefore covered by an accidental death policy. The plaintiff’s husband died of a heroin overdose on June 24, 2012. The plaintiff filed a claim for benefits under the terms of the plaintiff’s employer-sponsored voluntary accident insurance program. The insurance company denied the claim on the grounds that the death was not due to an accident as defined in the policy—a sudden, unforeseen, and unexpected event which happened by chance from . . .