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Shaw v. Jain10/20/2005
Judith Shaw seeks review of an adverse final judgment entered following a jury trial in her medical malpractice action against Dr. Vidya Jain, individually and doing business as Jain Hand Surgery Center, and his professional association. We conclude that the trial court committed reversible error when it permitted Jain to present to the jury irrelevant and prejudicial evidence regarding Shaw's use of marijuana notwithstanding Shaw's repeated objections. Accordingly, we agree with Shaw that the trial court should have granted Shaw's motion for a new trial because of that error, and reverse and remand with directions to that effect.
Shaw's action alleged that Jain had cut her median nerve while performing a carpal tunnel release on her right hand, and then negligently failed to diagnose and treat the cut nerve. According to the complaint, Shaw sustained permanent injuries as a result of Jain's negligence. As a part of his affirmative defense that Shaw had been comparatively negligent, Jain alleged that Shaw "ha used marijuana to control pain to her hands and has not told this to her treating physicians . . . ." According to Jain, "withholding of this information . . . impacted the pain management aspect of [Shaw's] treatment, which has contributed to her damages." Prior to trial, Shaw filed a motion in limine asking that evidence of alleged illegal drug use be precluded because it would be irrelevant, and because "introduction of such evidence is likely to confuse or mislead the jury and is more prejudicial than probative," citing section 90.403 of the Florida Evidence Code. The trial court denied that motion, as well as a motion for reconsideration filed immediately before the trial commenced.
At trial, over repeated objections, Jain was permitted to present to the jury evidence that Shaw had tested positive for marijuana on a drug test performed at the behest of her employer more than two years before the surgery, and that she had again tested positive about a year after the surgery while receiving treatment from a pain management physician. Four physicians were permitted to testify that a patient's use of marijuana could have an impact on their treatment decisions. However, none testified that Shaw's use of marijuana would have affected their treatment of her. On the contrary, the physician who had treated Shaw for pain testified that Shaw's positive drug test did not change her treatment. In short, no evidence was presented that Shaw's use of marijuana had any impact whatsoever on the magnitude of her injuries, the treatment for those injuries, or her recovery. Notwithstanding the lack of such evidence, Jain's attorney referred to the marijuana usage in both opening statement and closing argument, implying that it had, in fact, had an adverse effect on Shaw's recovery.
The standard of review applicable to Shaw's contention that the trial court erred when it permitted Jain to present to the jury evidence of her marijuana use is abuse of discretion. E.g., Ray v. State, 755 So. 2d 604, 610 (Fla. 2000) ("Admission of evidence is within the discretion of the trial court and will not be reversed unless there has been a clear abuse of that discretion."). However, when ruling on evidentiary matters, "a trial court's discretion is limited by the rules of evidence." Nardone v. State, 798 So. 2d 870, 874 (Fla. 4th DCA 2001).
Here, the permissible scope of the trial court's discretion was circumscribed by three provisions of the Florida Evidence Code. Section 90.401 states that " elevant evidence is evidence tending to prove or disprove a material fact." ยง 90.401, Fla. Stat. (2004). As Professor Ehrhardt explains in his treatise on Florida evidence, "for evidence to be relevan
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