LUCAS v. SARA LEE CORPORATION
3/9/1992
Heard Jan. 22, 1992.
Decided Mar. 9, 1992.
This is a negligence case arising out of an automobile accident. Charletta Lucas was driving her vehicle in March of 1988 when she was struck from the rear by a vehicle driven by an agent of the defendant, Sara Lee Corporation. The jury returned a verdict in Lucas's favor in the amount of $400,000 actual damages. Sara Lee appeals contending the trial court
I.
The first evidentiary rulings concern the testimony of two physicians. The trial court excluded certain portions of their testimony. Sara Lee contends this was error.
One of the issues in the case was the causal relationship between Mrs. Lucas's lower
(a)
Dr. Philip Fifield, a family practice physician, first saw Mrs. Lucas on April 8, 1988. She related to him a history of being involved in an automobile accident approximately two weeks prior to the visit. She sought treatment for pain and stiffness in the left side of her neck. Dr. Fifield testified he had no recollection of Mrs. Lucas complaining of pain in the lower back and his records did not reflect such a complaint. Mrs. Lucas testified she did mention pain in her lower back but at the time the main area of pain was in her neck. Dr. Fifield did not examine her lower back. He treated her for the neck problem and then referred her to an orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Mason Ahearn.
Dr. Fifield next saw Mrs. Lucas in March, 1989. She complained of right lower back pain at the time. He testified she gave a history of being involved in transferring patients on her job as a registered nurse at a hospital. According to Dr. Fifield, Mrs. Lucas stated the pain began after she arrived home from her shift at the hospital. She did not recall a particular act which immediately produced pain. His diagnosis was a lumbar strain with muscle spasm. An X-ray of the lumbar spine revealed a narrowing of the L5-S1 disc space. This was the last time he saw her.
During the testimony, Dr. Fifield was questioned about the lack of complaint of lower back pain in 1988. He testified he rendered no diagnosis regarding her lumbar spine in 1988 because she made no complaint which would have caused him to conduct a physical examination of that area. The trial court then excluded the following question and answer:
Q. And today, sir, looking at these records before you, do
you have an opinion, to a reasonable degree of medical
certainty, as to whether a bulging lumbar disc or a ruptured
disc existed at that time?
A. To my knowledge, such a condition did not exist at
that time.
We note this is the only portion of the testimony excluded by the court. Dr. Fifield testified about the usual symptoms associated with a disc injury including pain in the lower back. He stated the 1989 complaints could be related to the history of transferring patients at work.
The trial court excluded the question and answer because Dr. Fifield testified he made no examination and diagnosis of the lower back in 1988. The court held it would be improper under those circumstances for him to testify a condition did not exist. The admission or exclusion of evidence is a matter within the sound discretion of the trial judge. For an appellate court to reverse the trial court for erroneously excluding evidence the appellant must show both the error of the ruling and prejudice resulting therefrom. First State Savings and Loan v. Phelps, 299 S.C. 441, 385 S.E.2d 821 (1989). Whether or not this testimony should have been excluded, we see no resulting prejudice from the exclusion. The point was already made in other testimony by Dr.
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