Reeves v. Travelers Ins. Co.
| Decision Date | 15 March 1976 |
| Docket Number | No. 12848,12848 |
| Citation | 329 So.2d 876 |
| Parties | Jettie REEVES et al., Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. The TRAVELERS INSURANCE COMPANY et al., Defendants-Appellants. |
| Court | Court of Appeal of Louisiana — District of US |
Blanchard, Walker, O'Quin & Roberts by Jerald L. Perlman, Shreveport, for defendants-appellants.
Shuey, Smith & Carlton by J. William Fleming, Shreveport, for plaintiffs-appellees.
Before BOLIN, PRICE and MARVIN, JJ.
Plaintiffs, husband and wife, instituted the present action to recover damages for personal injuries received by Mrs. Reeves, and related special damages due the community caused by a truck colliding with Mrs. Reeves' automobile on May 15, 1973. It was stipulated the accident was caused by the negligence of the truck driver. From a judgment in solido against the truck driver, his employer, and the liability insurer in favor of Mrs. Reeves for $21,500 and for Mr. Reeves in the amount of $5,216.95, all defendants appeal. We affirm.
In their brief before this court appellants specify the lower court erred in (1) finding that plaintiff sustained an aggravation of a prior existing back condition; (2) failing to take into consideration Mrs. Reeves' refusal to undergo surgery in mitigating its award.
Mrs. Reeves had received a back injury in February 1972. For this injury she was examined and treated by Dr. Harold R. Bicknell, an orthopedic surgeon, who suspected she had a herniated disc and recommended a myelogram. A myelogram was performed on Mrs. Reeves following which Dr. Bicknell recommended surgery. However, due to an adverse reaction to the dye used in the myelogram procedure and for personal reasons of her own, she did not agree to the surgery. The lower court found, and we agree, that the difficulty from the 1972 accident had abated prior to the 1973 automobile accident.
The most serious question relates to Mrs. Reeves' refusal to submit to an operation following the second accident. Dr. Bicknell, who had treated Mrs. Reeves for the back injury received by her in the first accident, referred her to the Baylor Medical Center in Dallas, Texas, for an electromyograph in October, 1973. This procedure was followed because of Mrs. Reeves' inability to tolerate a myelogram and also because the electromyograph is a successful procedure for duplicating the capability of the myelogram.
Dr. Bicknell testified the results of the electromyograph correlated with the findings previously obtained from the myelogram in 1972, which caused him to recommend that Mrs. Reeves undergo surgery for a herniated disc. However, he stated the only way he could be certain she had a herniated disc was to perform the operation.
Mrs. Reeves testified she feared having a back operation and therefore refused to consent to such surgery. For her personal injuries the lower court awarded Mrs. Reeves $20,000 for 'the pain and suffering she has sustained as a result of this injury to her back' and 'an additional $1,500.00 for the bruises and abrasions, to include the blow to the nose, sustained in the accident.'
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