In the 1933 case of Missouri State Life Insurance Co. et al. v. Jones, Administrator, the US Supreme Court ruled in favor of the insurance company and reversed a decision made by an Arkansas court that had awarded damages to Mr. Jones for allegedly fraudulent misrepresentations made by agents of the insurance company regarding a policy on his wife's life. The Supreme Court held that there was no substantial evidence supporting Mr.Jones' claim that he had been misled into believing his wife’s health condition would not affect her eligibility for coverage or premium rates under their policy when she was already ill at time of application and later died from this illness shortly after obtaining coverage.

In the dissenting opinion for Missouri State Life Insurance Co. et al. v. Jones, Administrator, it was argued that the majority's decision to uphold a state law imposing liability on foreign corporations for death caused by their negligence in states where they do business contradicts previous rulings of the court and infringes upon interstate commerce protections provided by the U.S Constitution. The justice contended that this ruling essentially allows individual states to regulate activities of foreign corporations beyond reasonable limits set forth in prior decisions such as Home Insurace Company v Dick and New York Life Insurance Company v Dodge. He believed that this could lead to an untenable situation where companies are subjected to different laws and liabilities in every state they operate, which would be detrimental not only for businesses but also for interstate commerce as a whole.