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Banks v. Sunrise Hospital12/17/2004
tions differ as to how hedonic loss should be presented and awarded. In particular, jurisdictions disagree as to whether an expert should be permitted to testify concerning the value of hedonic loss. Some jurisdictions will not permit an expert to testify concerning the value of a person's life on the grounds that the loss is subjective, that the damages are incapable of being accurately measured or that the methods used by experts to measure hedonic losses are unreliable. Other courts permit experts, such as economists, to testify concerning the value of hedonic loss, recognizing that the jury is ultimately responsible for computing damages and that expert testimony will often assist the jury in making its determination.
We agree with these latter jurisdictions. In Nevada, the district court has discretion to qualify a witness as an expert. As noted above, if an expert's "specialized knowledge will assist the trier of fact to understand the evidence or to determine a fact in issue," the expert "may testify to matters within the scope of such knowledge." This rule is tempered by NRS 48.035(1), which prohibits the admission of relevant evidence where its "probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice, of confusion of the issues or of misleading the jury." Furthermore, the jury must find that the "party will probably suffer such damages in the future."
Here, Banks offered Robert Johnson, a forensic economist, as an expert on hedonic damages to assist the jury in determining the monetary value of the pleasure of living that James will be denied as a result of his injury . In cases permitting experts to testify as to the value of hedonic loss, economists have used various methods to arrive at their conclusions. Johnson's methodology for the valuation of hedonic damages is called the "willingness to pay" theory. Johnson testified that he relied on particular studies written about and evaluated by other authors concerning two methods under the "willingness to pay theory." The first method, the "survey" method, asks people how much they are willing to spend to reduce the probability of death from 3 deaths per 20,000 to 1 death per 20,000. The second method, the "wage risk" method, examines the salary people in high fatality risk jobs receive and the amount of money people are willing to forego to work a lower fatality risk job . Johnson then extrapolated a total value of hedonic damages from the differentials in salary. Using these two methods, Johnson determined that a low $2.5 million to an average of $8.7 million with no ceiling was the tangible value of a person's life.
Johnson's methodology for the valuation of hedonic damages assisted the jury to understand the amount of damages that would compensate James for the loss of his enjoyment of life. Johnson's valuation theories were matters within the scope of his specialized knowledge concerning the monetary value of intangibles. Moreover, the probative value of Johnson's testimony was not substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice. Therefore, the district court properly exercised its discretion in qualifying Johnson as an expert and permitting him to testify concerning hedonic damages. We observe that Sunrise had the ability to use traditional methods of disputing Johnson's testimony, such as presenting witnesses on its behalf to persuade the jury that Johnson's methods were inaccurate or unreliable. The jury was then free to determine whether Johnson's valuation theories were credible and to weigh his testimony accordingly.
With respect to an award of hedonic damages, some jurisdictions permit an award of hedonic damages as a separate and distinct compensatory award, in addition
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