Justus v. Rosner
Decision Date | 20 June 2017 |
Docket Number | No. COA15-1196,COA15-1196 |
Citation | 802 S.E.2d 142,254 N.C.App. 55 |
Parties | Bruce JUSTUS as Administrator of the Estate of Pamela Jane Justus, Plaintiff, v. Michael J. ROSNER, M.D.; Michael J. Rosner, M.D., P.A.; Fletcher Hospital, Inc., d/b/a Park Ridge Hospital; Adventist Health System; and Adventist Health System Sunbelt Healthcare Corporation, Defendants. |
Court | North Carolina Court of Appeals |
The Law Offices of Wade Byrd, P.A., Fayetteville, by Wade E. Byrd, for plaintiff-appellee.
Wyrick Robbins Yates & Ponton LLP, Raleigh, by Tobias S. Hampson and K. Edward Greene, for defendant-appellants.
Where the trial court was within its discretion to set aside the jury verdict on the ground it was grossly inadequate, we affirm in part the trial court order granting plaintiff relief; however, where the trial court acted outside its authority in altering the verdict and thereafter amending the judgment, we vacate the amended judgment and remand for a new trial on damages. Where defendant was not entitled to an instruction on contributory negligence, we affirm the trial court's directed verdict as to that defense. Where the trial court acted within its statutory and discretionary authority in awarding costs to plaintiff, we affirm.
On 21 October 2014, the Honorable Zoro Guice, Jr., Judge presiding in Henderson County Superior Court, entered judgment in accordance with jury verdicts finding defendant Michael J. Rosner, M.D. and Michael J. Rosner, M.D., P.A., negligent and liable to plaintiff Bruce Justus as Administrator of the Estate of Pamela Jane Justus.1 ,2 The jury found that plaintiff was entitled to recover $512,162.00 for personal injury, but that that amount should be reduced by $512,161.00 (resulting in a nominal $1.00 award) "because of Pamela Justus's unreasonable failure ... to avoid or minimize her damages." Within ten days, plaintiff filed a motion to alter or amend the judgment pursuant to N.C. R. Civ. P. 59(a)(5), (7) and Rule 59(e). On 3 March 2015, Judge Guice entered an order granting plaintiff's motion to amend the 21 October 2014 judgment and also a corresponding amended judgment which struck the jury's verdict on mitigation of damages and awarded plaintiff $512,162.00. Dr. Michael J. Rosner and Michael J. Rosner, M.D., P.A., appeal this order, the amended judgment, and an order awarding costs.3
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As the 3 March 2015 order and amended judgment from which defendant appeals contain relevant facts (and procedural history), we set them out herein in relevant part:
on decedent Pamela Jane Justus.
....
4. The following evidence was presented at trial and was uncontroverted:
, craniectomy /craniotomy, tonsillar resection, and placement of a bovine pericardium).
c. Mrs. Justus last saw Dr. Rosner on March 21, 2001.
d. On May 29, 2001, in response to her report of severe pain, nausea and other post-operative symptoms, Dr. Rosner's office advised Mrs. Justus to return to see Dr. Rosner for a repeat MRI and re-evaluation, but she declined, stating that she was afraid to come back to Dr. Rosner again, and also that she lacked insurance because her husband had been laid off from work.
e. Thereafter, Mrs. Justus repeatedly consulted with physicians in an effort to obtain treatment for her continuing neck, head and back pain. For example, she saw Dr. Charles Buzzanell in July and August 2001; a neurologist at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in August and September 2001; Dr. Lesco Rogers on September 25, 2001; Dr. Shashidhar Kori at Duke University Medical Center on September 25, 2001, and neurosurgeon Dr. Regis Haid from November 2003 through January 2004.
f. In February 2004, Mrs. Justus visited Carolina Neurosurgery and Spine Associates in Charlotte, North Carolina, for corrective surgery; and, in April 2004, she had surgery done to correct her inability to support her head.
g. On numerous occasions from 2004 through 2011, Mrs. Justus sought and received further medical care related to her head and neck.
and Spine Associates.
i. Mrs. Justus died on September 20, 2012.
5. Dr. Rosner contended at trial that Mrs. Justus unreasonably failed to mitigate her damages.
6. To support the foregoing defense, Dr. Rosner called four neurosurgical experts (Drs. Michael Seiff, Donald Richardson, Peter Jannetta, and Konstantin Slavin) to testify on his behalf.
Following the detailed order granting plaintiff's motion to amend, the trial court entered an amended judgment. The amended judgment reads, in relevant part, as follows:
Pursuant to the Court's "Order Granting Plaintiff's Motion To Alter or Amend Judgment", the Judgment entered on October 21, 2014...
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