Florida Fourth DCA rules that insufficient evidence of aggravation of preexisting condition was presented at motor vehicle negligence trial to allow for jury instruction on issue
On June 6, 2018, in
Sanchez v. Martin, No. 4D17-1731, the Florida Fourth DCA reversed a judgment in favor of
the plaintiff in a motor vehicle negligence case, concluding that the
trial court erred in instructing the jury on aggravation of a preexisting
condition. The plaintiff’s expert had argued that the plaintiff’s
three herniated disks were caused by the accident. The expert acknowledged
on cross-examination that plaintiff suffered from a condition that could
cause various back problems but claimed that this condition was related
an area of the back above the location of the herniated disks. The defense
expert claimed that the plaintiff had not suffered from a permanent injury
and that the herniations were degenerative in nature and not caused by
an acute traumatic event. Although the defense expert denied there was
any aggravation of a preexisting condition, he acknowledged that a preexisting
condition could make a person more susceptible to injury. The defense
also elicited from a treating physician than an MRI showed a degenerative
condition but no traumatic disk herniations. Like the defense expert,
the treating physician acknowledged on cross-examination that trauma from
an automobile could aggravate a preexisting spine problem. The Fourth
DCA concluded that the defense’s presentation of evidence of a preexisting
condition to rebut plaintiff’s claim that the accident caused the
injury did not open the door to a jury instruction on aggravation of a
preexisting condition. The Fourth DCA noted that the plaintiff admitted
in his appellate brief that he never believed or suggested that this came
from the aggravation of a preexisting condition.
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