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Woodward v. Research Medical Center8/23/2005
t, 62 S.W.3d at 530.The instruction given placed a higher burden on Mr. Woodward to prove that Research's alleged negligence in August, when Ms. Woodward fell, caused her death some three months later, because the jury was instructed to find liability only if the negligence directly caused the death. The jury's verdict on the alternative survivorship/personal injury claim provides an indication that the jury found negligence on the part of Research and a direct or contributory link between that negligence and the harm Ms. Woodward suffered before she died. Mr. Woodward suggests that submitting the wrongful-death claim under the more rigorous causation standard in effect told the jury that a higher standard was required to return a verdict on a death claim than on a survivorship claim. The claims were submitted as alternative bases for recovery; thus, we agree that the merits of the case have been materially affected and that Mr. Woodward was prejudiced by the denial of his requested instruction and its converse and that the circuit court erred as a matter of law in refusing to submit that instruction to the jury. Wright , 62 S.W.3d at 526. We reverse the circuit court's denial of his motion for new trial.
As for Research's claim that the survivorship/personal injury verdict director was flawed because it included the MAI 19.01 modification, even if we were to consider the issue as a matter of plain error under Rule 84.13(c), because we find that Mr. Woodward was entitled to a multiple causes instruction in relation to his wrongful-death claim, we also find that the evidence supported the instruction in relation to his survivorship claim. This point is denied.
Loss of Consortium
Research further contends that Mr. Woodward's loss-of-consortium claim, which was joined to the survivorship/personal injury action brought under section 537.020 by Mr. Woodward as the personal representative of his wife's estate, does not survive her death. Research argued during trial that the damages submitted in Mr. Woodward's survivorship package were duplicative of those asserted in his alternative claim for wrongful death and that they should be submitted to the jury only as part of the wrongful death case. Research specifically focused on the alleged damages relating to care, comfort, guidance, and support, and to pain and suffering in its argument to the circuit court. It is clear, however, that when the jury returned a verdict in favor of Mr. Woodward on the survivorship claim, it awarded only past economic damages. The completed verdict form shows no award for past and future non-economic damages, which were defined in the instruction as "non-pecuniary harm such as pain, suffering, physical impairment, loss of consortium, and loss of capacity to enjoy life." Because Research does not address in what way the economic damages verdict was in error, we will deny this point.
For these reasons, we affirm in part and reverse in part and remand for a new trial.
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