Andrus v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co.

• Decision Date: 22 March 1996
• Citation: 670 So.2d 1206
• Parties: 95-0801 La
• Court: Louisiana Supreme Court

Page 1206

670 So.2d 1206

95-0801 La. 3/22/96

Rumae Nell ANDRUS v. STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY.

No. 95-C-0801.

Supreme Court of Louisiana.

March 22, 1996.

Rehearing Denied May 10, 1996.

On Writ of Certiorari to the Court of Appeal, Third Circuit, Parish of Lafayette.

Terry L. Rowe, Lafayette, for Applicant.

Kenneth Pitre, Eunice, for Respondent.

[95-0801 La. 1] LEMMON, Justice. ^*

We granted certiorari to review the court of appeal's seven hundred percent increase in the amount of general damages awarded by the jury in this personal injury case. We conclude that the court of appeal erred in determining that the trial court jury had abused its much discretion as to general damages for past and future mental pain and suffering and loss of consortium, and we accordingly reverse that portion of the judgment and reinstate the trial court's award. We further conclude that the court of appeal, after correctly determining that the trial court jury had abused its discretion as to general damages for past and future physical pain and suffering, erred in increasing the award above the lowest reasonable amount.

[95-0801 La. 2] I

Mrs. Rumae Andrus was injured in an automobile accident while in the course of her employment. In the ensuing litigation, Mrs. Andrus settled with several parties for $110,000, the total liability insurance policy limits, and proceeded to trial against State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, her employer's uninsured/underinsured motorist carrier. The jury returned a verdict awarding Mrs. Andrus a total of $98,160.95, as follows:

                Past and future physical pain and suffering                          $15,000.00
                Past medical expenses                                                $26,000.00
                Future medical expenses                                              $20,000.00
                Past loss earnings                                                   $27,160.95
                Future loss earnings and lost earnings capacity                        $ "0"
                Past and future mental pain and suffering, loss of physical          $10,000.00
                  function and loss of capacity for enjoyment of life
                                                                                     ----------
                Total                                                                $98,160.95
                

Additionally, the jury declined to award Mr. Andrus any damages for loss of consortium. Because the amount of the verdict was less than the $110,000 threshold for the liability of the underinsured motorist carrier, the trial court dismissed State Farm from the action.

On appeal, a divided panel of the intermediate court amended the general damages award, concluding that the lowest amounts a reasonable trier of fact could have awarded were $125,000.00 for past and future physical pain and suffering and $75,000.00 for past and future mental pain and suffering. 94-161 (La.App. 3 Cir. 12/28/94), 650 So.2d 275. Increasing these general damages awards from $25,000 to $200,000, the court stated:

In light of the Youn [v. Maritime Overseas Corp., 623 So.2d 1257 (La.1993) ] opinion, we have reviewed the particular injuries sustained by ANDRUS from the accident and the particular effects that they had on her. Even when we considered the evidence of the injuries and resulting damages in a light most favorable toward the defendant, we find that the trial court's award of damages to ANDRUS was not reasonable.

[95-0801 La. 3] Id. at 279. Furthermore, the court held that the jury erred in finding Mr. Andrus had suffered no damages for loss of consortium. The court reviewed the record de novo and awarded him $25,000.00.

We granted certiorari to review the decision of the court of appeal. 95-0801 (La. 5/12/95), 654 So.2d 341.

II

In the rear-end collision, Mrs. Andrus' seat broke, her head hit the roof, and her chin hit the steering wheel. In this action she claimed damages for three physical injuries: (1) a compression fracture of the thoracic vertebra at the T11 level, (2) a herniated disc at the C3-4 level, and (3) temporomandibular joint (TMJ) arthralgia.

Dr. John Cobb, an orthopedic surgeon, examined Mrs. Andrus at the hospital on the day of the May 23, 1991 accident. He diagnosed a thirty percent compression fracture of the thoracic spine and fitted her with a Jewit brace from the pelvis to the upper chest area. She was discharged from the hospital two days later.

Because Mrs. Andrus' severe headaches continued and she began experiencing jaw pain, locking and spasms, she was referred to Dr. Mark Coreil, an orthodontist, in June 1991. Dr. Coreil diagnosed Mrs. Andrus' condition as TMJ arthralgia and fitted her with a jaw splint. Mrs. Andrus responded well immediately to the splint therapy, was doing "exceptionally well" by September, and was free of pain from that injury within six months.

In the meantime Dr. Cobb continued to treat Mrs. Andrus' thoracic spine fracture, noting that she was "about healed and progressing well" seven weeks after the accident. She returned to her job as a teacher teaching in August for the fall semester, although she was still wearing the brace at times.

[95-0801 La. 4] When Mrs. Andrus' complaints of neck pain persisted, Dr. Cobb performed a magnetic resonance imaging test in early October. He opined that she was suffering from spondylosis, a preexisting degenerative condition, in the cervical spine at the C3-4 level and recommended further studies of the cervical discs. He estimated that she was "relatively disabled" during the five months he treated her, stating that she was unable to do lifting, bending and other types of heavy work activity. He assigned her a ten percent anatomical disability of the body as a whole.

Mrs. Andrus was also treated between June and December 1991 by Dr. Oscar Rodriguez, her family internist who had previously treated her for a stomach ulcer, stress, and depression in the early 1980s. After the 1991 accident, Dr. Rodriguez diagnosed a stomach ulcer, probably caused by stress, and the ulcer responded to medication. Because Mrs. Andrus was complaining of numbness and weakness in the right upper extremity and of neck pain, he referred her to Dr. Robert Rivet, a neurosurgeon.

Dr. Rivet first examined Mrs. Andrus on December 20, 1991. A myelogram revealed cervical spondylosis with nerve root fracture at C3-4. On January 8, 1992, Dr. Rivet performed a surgical fusion of the involved area, and Mrs. Andrus obtained immediate relief from the headaches. After discharge from the hospital three days later, Mrs. Andrus wore a hard collar to support her neck during daytime hours and a soft collar at night for approximately three months. She made an excellent and uneventful recovery. By July 13, 1992, the fusion was solid, and she was free of pain and nerve pressure. Dr. Rivet therefore discharged her on that date to return to teaching.

When Mrs. Andrus' symptoms flared up in late September after manipulation in physical therapy, she consulted Dr. Robert Franklin, a physical medicine and [95-0801 La. 5] rehabilitation specialist, on October 14, 1992 upon the recommendation of Dr. Rivet. For her soft tissue pain, he prescribed medication, a special brassiere for improving posture and relieving neck symptoms, and a TENS unit, a small electrical device used for low-grade electrical stimulus of the central nervous system. When she exhibited improvement by February 1993, he encouraged her to lose weight ¹ and released her to return to teaching, but instructed her to avoid lifting heavy weights.

Thus, Mrs. Andrus, after returning to teaching in August 1991 following the late May accident, worked until December 1991 and then missed the spring semester following the surgery and part of the fall semester during rehabilitation after the physical therapy incident. She returned to work full time in February, 1993. At the time of the July 1993 trial, she was teaching full time.

Mrs. Andrus also claimed damages for emotional injuries. She had been diagnosed in the early 1980s with bipolar disorder, which involved episodes of depression alternating with episodes of overactivity and elevated mood or mania. She had experienced one psychotic episode about ten years before the accident, during which she was delusional about being Jesus, was agitated and had difficulty sleeping, and finally attempted suicide.

Several months before the May 1991 accident, Mrs. Andrus was in partial remission of the bipolar condition, but was taking anti-depressant medication. She consulted Dr. John Smith, a psychiatrist who was also treating Mrs. Andrus' son after hospitalizing him for psychiatric problems. Dr. Smith attributed Mrs. Andrus' pre-accident stress at least in part of her son's problems.

After the accident Dr. Smith diagnosed moderate depression secondary to the injuries in the accident. He increased the dosage of the medication, noting her fear [95-0801 La. 6] that she would never work again and her corresponding loss of self-esteem. He added that Mrs. Andrus responds well to anti-depressants and did not need lengthy or extensive treatment. He referred her to Dr. Stewart Kutz, a psychologist who conducted group pain therapy, and did not see her again.

Mrs. Andrus consulted with Dr. Kutz on two successive days in July 1991 (two months after the accident). Psychological testing indicated "very mild depression," which Dr. Kutz attributed to stress from the accident and from her son's psychiatric problems. She never returned to Dr. Kutz.

In November 1991, Mrs. Andrus consulted Dr. Harry Guiterrez, a psychiatrist, complaining of depressed mood, sleep disorder and loss of capacity to enjoy life. ² He diagnosed a bipolar disorder in partial remission, and he believed that her absence from work contributed to her depression. He prescribed lithium to boost the effect of the anti-depressant medication she was taking. He followed her through February 1992 when she returned to work, and in May 1992 he found that there were no depressive or...