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Hanks v. Seale6/17/2005
h services, after the date of the injury that will be incurred after the date of the settlement, judgment, or arbitration award.
(2) "Future medical care and benefits" as used in this Section shall not be construed to mean non-essential specialty items or devices of convenience.
C. Once a judgment is entered in favor of a patient who is found to be in need of future medical care and related benefits that will be incurred after the date of the response to the special interrogatory by the jury or the court's finding or a settlement is reached between a patient and the patient's compensation fund in which the provision of medical care and related benefits that will be incurred after the date of settlement is agreed upon and continuing as long as medical or surgical attention is reasonably necessary, the patient may make a claim to the patient's compensation fund through the board for all future medical care and related benefits directly or indirectly made necessary by the health care provider's malpractice unless the patient refuses to allow them to be furnished.
D. Payments for medical care and related benefits shall be paid by the patient's compensation fund without regard to the five hundred thousand dollar limitation imposed in R.S. 40:1299.42.
E. (1) The district court from which final judgment issues shall have continuing jurisdiction in cases where medical care and related benefits are determined to be needed by the patient. * * * In response to the district court's special interrogatory, the jury awarded plaintiff $2,435,040.00 in future medical expenses and the court entered its judgment consistent with the jury's award. The Fund urges that plaintiff failed to establish with some degree of certainty that he was in need of future medical treatment and he presented no medical evidence or testimony to the jury substantiating his claims for future treatment or setting out the probable cost of any such treatment and care.
The trier of fact has much discretion in the assessment of damages, and an appellate court will only disturb such awards when there has been a clear abuse of that discretion. Theriot v. Allstate Ins. Co., 625 So.2d 1337, 1340. Appellate courts review the evidence in the light most favorable to the prevailing party to determine whether the trier of fact was clearly wrong in its conclusions. Id.
Future medical expenses must be established with some degree of certainty and will not be awarded in the absence of medical testimony that they are indicated and sets out their probable cost. Duncan v. Kansas City So. Railway Co., 00-0066, p. 17 (La. 10/30/00), 773 So.2d 670, 685. However, this court has noted that
hen the record establishes that future medical expenses will be necessary and inevitable, the court should not reject an award of future medical expenses on the basis that the record does not provide the exact value of the necessary expenses, if the court can examine the record and determine from evidence of past medical expenses and other evidencea minimum amount that reasonable minds could not disagree will be required.
Stiles v. K Mart Corp., 597 So.2d 1012, 1013 (La. 1992) (per curiam). Expert testimony may not always be required to support a malpractice victim's need for future medical care in cases where the need for such medical care is obvious and certain to the layperson. See Blocker v. Rapides Regional Med. Ctr., 03-745, p. 4 (La. App. 3 Cir. 12/23/03), 862 So.2d 1220, 1223. In Pfiffner v. Correa, 94-0924 (La. 10/17/94), 643 So.2d 1228, we held that expert testimony is not always necessary for a plaintiff to meet his burden of proof in establishing his medical malpractice claim when
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