In Harding v. Deiss (2000) 300 Mont. 312 3 P.3d 1286, a mother sued two physicians who treated her daughter before she died. The trial court instructed the jury on contributory negligence and allowed the physicians to argue to the jury that the decedent's conduct before she was taken to the emergency room caused her death. (Id., 3 P.3d at p. 1287.) The Montana Supreme Court reversed the judgment that had favored the physicians, concluding that the defense of contributory negligence was improper under the facts presented. (Id. at p. 1291.) In Harding, the decedent went horseback riding despite the fact she had asthma, was allergic to horses and had a long history of breathing difficulties. (Harding, supra, 3 P.3d at. p. 1287.) During the ride, she began to have trouble breathing and eventually collapsed. (Ibid.) She was taken by ambulance to a hospital's emergency room where she was treated by one of the defendants. (Ibid.) The next day, she was transferred to a different hospital and was treated by the other defendant. (Ibid.) The court began analyzing whether it was appropriate to instruct the jury on contributory negligence by stating it was necessary to clarify the sequence of events in relation to the interwoven doctrines of contributory or comparative negligence, proximate cause, and avoidable consequences. (Harding, supra, 3 P.3d at p. 1288.) To accomplish this clarification, the court identified three temporal settings: (1) the pretreatment period, (2) the period during which the alleged malpractice occurred, and (3) the period after the alleged malpractice. (Id. at p. 1289.) Next, the court discussed cases concluding the pretreatment health habits of a patient or other negligent acts that precede the physician's medical treatment cannot be considered as evidence of fault. (Harding, supra, at p. 1289.) The Montana Supreme Court agreed with those cases and concluded "that comparative negligence as a defense does not apply where a patient's pre-treatment behavior merely furnishes the need for care or treatment which later becomes the subject of a malpractice claim. The patient's conduct before seeking medical treatment is merely a factor the physician should consider in treating the patient." (Id. at p. 1289.) The court regarded the patient's pretreatment health habits as being relevant only to the issue of proximate causation.13 (3 P.3d at p. 1289.) Because the decedent's horseback riding was pretreatment conduct, the court concluded instructing the jury on comparative negligence was an abuse of discretion. (Ibid.) The Court rejected the defendant doctor's argument that the erroneous instructions on the deceased patient's negligence were a moot issue because the jury found for the defendants without reaching the issue of the patient's negligence. Instead, the court concluded that the defendants' statements during opening argument and points raised during cross-examination denied the plaintiff a fair and impartial trial. (Id. at p. 1291.)