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Quigley v. Jobe11/19/1992
In this action for medical malpractice, plaintiffs, Virginia and James Quigley, appeal a judgment entered on a jury verdict in favor of defendant, William Jobe. We affirm.
Virginia Quigley was referred to defendant with a lump in her right breast. Defendant testified that, following examination, he reported to the referring doctor that plaintiff was instructed to begin a self-palpation program and that she should, in the absence of clinical changes, be rechecked in six months. Plaintiff disputed she was given such recommendations and testified that she returned to a doctor one year after defendant's examination, at which time she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Plaintiffs brought suit against defendant alleging he was negligent when he gave improper advice or instructions regarding follow-up treatment of the lump in her breast.
Prior to trial, the court granted defendant's motion in limine to exclude evidence of risk management guideline provisions promulgated by the defendant's liability insurance carrier and contained in defendant's liability insurance contract. The risk management guidelines recommended a follow up examination for breast carcinoma within six weeks after the discovery of palpable dominant lesions.
Defendant signed the guidelines as a condition of insurance and below a caption which read: "I have read and understand the above [risk management] guidelines . . . on . . . Delayed Diagnosis Breast Carcinoma." Pursuant to the guidelines, defendant's signature indicated that he agreed to incorporate the guidelines into his practice "insofar as possible" and acknowledged that failure to comply with the guidelines could result in a "surcharge up to $25,000, or non-renewal" of his liability policy.
A.
Plaintiffs first contend that the trial court erred in determining that the probative value of the offered guidelines was outweighed by their prejudicial effect. We disagree.
Evidence is relevant if it tends to make the existence of a material fact more or less probable than it would be without the evidence. People v. Carlson, 712 P.2d 1018 (Colo. 1986); CRE 401.
A trial court is vested with broad discretion in determining whether evidence is relevant. People v. Lowe, 660 P.2d 1261 (Colo. 1983). And, although relevant evidence is generally admissible, a trial court may exclude such evidence if its probative value is substantially outweighed by danger of unfair prejudice. Munson v. Boettcher & Co., 832 P.2d 967 (Colo. App. 1991); CRE 402 & 403.
Here, the trial court determined that the guidelines were not relevant because they were promulgated by a private insurance company as part of an insurance contract and did not reflect a generally recognized standard of care within the medical profession. We agree with that analysis. See Lewis v. La Nier, 84 Colo. 376, 270 P. 656 (1928).
The trial court further concluded that, to the extent the guidelines had any marginal relevance, their probative value was outweighed by the prejudicial effect of admitting evidence of the existence of defendant's insurance coverage, which differed from insurance coverage possessed by a co-defendant who is not a party to this appeal.
Because adequate support appears in the record for the trial court's rulings, we find no abuse of discretion here. Johnson v. Smith, 675 P.2d 307 (Colo. 1984).
B.
Plaintiffs next argue that the trial court erred in rejecting their argument that Virginia Quigley was a
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