Jackson v. Hamilton11/4/2003
Facts and Procedural History
On the morning of March 4, 1991, in Shelby County, Tennessee, Gwendolyn Jackson ("Jackson") stopped at a stop sign, when Zodie Hamilton ("Hamilton"), who was behind Jackson, became distracted by her children in her car resulting in a minor impact of Hamilton's car with Jackson's car. Officer Goforth of the Shelby County Sheriff's Department investigated the accident at the scene and testified that Jackson told him she was not hurt even though she was wincing in pain. After the accident, Jackson did not go to work and obtained a name of a chiropractor, Dr. Rush Robinson ("Robinson"), from a co-worker.
Jackson saw Robinson the day of the accident in the early afternoon and, initially, she had no complaints, though she appeared to be in pain. Robinson performed no spinal adjustments at that appointment, but, instead, provided Jackson with cold packs, a neck collar, and ordered x-rays. After Jackson had the x-rays, she returned home and began to experience pain in her shoulders and back with a tingling feeling in her fingers. On March 5, 1991, Robinson again saw Jackson, who complained of neck pain and stiffness, but he still did not perform a spinal adjustment. Robinson saw Jackson again on March 6, 1991, and it was at this appointment that Robinson performed a spinal adjustment on Jackson's neck. Though Jackson testified that she experienced an immediate decrease in pain overall, she noticed a numbness in her left hand a couple of weeks after the car accident. Because Robinson was concerned about Jackson's left arm pain, he referred her to a neurosurgeon, Dr. Thomas Miller ("Miller"), on March 22, 1991. Miller, after seeing Jackson on March 25, 1991, ordered an MRI and, upon review, determined that she had a soft disc rupture, which required surgery. Jackson underwent cervical laminectomy with diskectomy with a foraminotomy by Miller on May 10, 1991. Though Jackson remained under Miller's care for the next year, she continued to experience pain in her left shoulder and arm. Because her condition was not improving, Jackson decided to begin seeing Dr. Moacir Schnapp ("Schnapp"), a pain doctor. Jackson experienced an adverse reaction to one of the medications, Tegretol, prescribed by Schnapp resulting in emergency room treatment for severe headaches.
Plaintiff incurred medical expenses for her treatment in excess of $18,000. In addition, Plaintiff was absent from work from March 4, 1991, through March 25, 1991, and from May 10, 1991, through September 3, 1991. Plaintiff's monthly rate of pay at that time was $3,061.67.
Gwendolyn Jackson and Charles Jackson (collectively the "Plaintiffs") filed their complaint against Zodie Hamilton and James Hamilton (collectively the "Defendants") in the Circuit Court for Shelby County, Tennessee, on March 2, 1992, alleging damages in the form of pain and suffering, loss of consortium, lost wages, and medical expenses. Defendants filed their answer on April 9, 1992, admitting that the car accident occurred but denying their negligence or that their negligence proximately caused the damages Plaintiff suffered. Defendants moved to amend their answer to add the affirmative defense of Robinson's comparative fault but the trial court denied this amendment. A trial on this cause of action was held in September 1995 where the trial judge directed a verdict in favor of Plaintiffs and sent the issue of damages to the jury, which was unable to agree on a verdict, causing a mistrial. In the second trial of December 1996, the jury entered a verdict in favor of the Plaintiffs awarding Gwendolyn Jackson $8,877.14 and Charles Jackson one dollar. Upon Plaintiffs' motion for a new trial, the December 1996 verdict was s
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