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Lindquist v. Scott Radiological Group5/31/2005
help stimulate muscles that had atrophied. Slowly, Mr. Lindquist began to make strides. Mr. Lindquist first regained some feeling in his toes, then his legs. Through the use of machines, the therapists helped Mr. Lindquist bear weight on his legs. With the use of leg braces, therapists helped Mr. Lindquists take a few steps. Ultimately, Mr. Lindquist walked with the assistance of a walker. At the Class of 2001 graduation ceremony, Mr. Lindquist labored to walk for his students with the use of canes. Despite these strides the Lindquists never resumed a marital love life due to separate rooms, separate beds and the swelling and sores Mr. Lindquist suffered from spending most of his day in the wheelchair.
Despite his physical accomplishments, in the summer of 2001, Mr. Lindquist learned that he needed a stem cell transplant. Mr. Lindquist missed two months of school due to the transplant. Exhausted by any activity and feeling like he was a hardship on his wife and the school, Mr. Lindquist retired from his job in 2002. Mr. Lindquist testified that, at the time of his retirement, Mr. Lindquist was earning approximately $87,000 per year.
At the close of all evidence, the jury awarded $5.5 million ($1,750,000 for past economic damages, $1,750,000 for past non-economic damages, $1,000,000 for future economic damages, and $1,000,000 for future non-economic damages) to Mr. Lindquist. The jury awarded an additional $1,350,000 ($675,000 for past non-economic damages and $675,000 for future non-economic damages) to Plaintiff.
The record clearly supports the jury's award in this case. Specifically, the evidence disclosed that Mr. Lindquist was rendered paraplegic when, at age 51, despite repeated doctor and hospital visits, Defendants failed to timely diagnose and treat his spinal cancer. The evidence adduced revealed that the paralysis Mr. Lindquist suffered was a significant, devastating event that forced him to incur substantial medical bills, retire from his job at a local high school, and completely alter his life. A review of comparable cases reveals that, given Mr. Lindquist's injuries and the consequences that necessarily followed, a $5.5 million award is not excessive. See Lay v. P & G Health Care, Inc., 37 S.W.3d 310 (Mo.App.W.D. 2000) ( damages award of $9,252,500 not excessive where dumbwaiter fell on repairman and caused a massive head injury , requiring several surgeries, and chronic dizziness, blindness, drooling, no sense of smell or taste, headaches, hearing loss, pain and discomfort, airway obstruction, and difficulty fighting life-threatening infections); Fowler v. Park Corp., 673 S.W.2d 749 (Mo. banc 1984) (damages award of $6 million not excessive where 19-year-old lost both of his legs above the knees when run over by a switch engine).
3. Fair and Reasonable Compensation -- Past Economic Damages
In Plaintiff's first point on appeal, she contends the trial court erred in granting a new trial instead of correcting the excessive past economic damage award. Similarly, in Plaintiff's third point on appeal, she argues that "the trial court erred in failing to remit the amount the jury awarded for past economic damages." Moreover, Plaintiff admits that the portion of the award fixing past economic damages exceeds the evidence of Mr. Lindquist's past wages and expenses. Specifically, Plaintiff concedes that:
he proof of past economic losses is discernable from the record. . . . he medical-expense claim was for $190,000, a sum certain culled from greater bills everyone agreed arose treating Lindquist's cancer and paraplegia. Defendants did not contest Mr. Lindquist's work absence or lost earnings June 28, 1999 through December 1999; th
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