Case Name: Rita UNDERWOOD-GARY v. George J. MATHEWS, et al.
Court: Court of Appeals of Maryland
Jurisdiction: Maryland
Decision Date: 2001-11-28
Citations: 366 Md. 660
Docket Number: No. 107
Parties: Rita UNDERWOOD-GARY v. George J. MATHEWS, et al.
Judges: 
Reporter: Maryland Reports
Volume: 366
Pages: 660–689

Head Matter:
785 A.2d 708
Rita UNDERWOOD-GARY v. George J. MATHEWS, et al.
No. 107,
Sept. Term, 2000.
Court of Appeals of Maryland.
Nov. 28, 2001.
Leo William Dunn, Jr. (Leo William Dunn, Jr., P.A., on brief) of Chester, MD, for petitioner.
Timothy L. Mullin, Jr. (Donna P. Sturtz of Miles & Stock-bridge P.C., on brief) of Baltimore, Judith C. Ensor (White-ford, Taylor & Preston, L.L.P., on brief), of Towson, for respondents.
Argued before BELL, C.J., and RAKER, WILNER, CATHELL, HARRELL, BATTAGLIA, LAWRENCE F. RODOWSKY (Retired, specially assigned), JJ.

Opinion:
RAKER, J.
The issue in this case is whether a plaintiff who enters into an agreement and has marked as satisfied a judgment against one tortfeasor is barred from maintaining a second action against two other alleged tortfeasors for the same harm. The Court of Special Appeals held, inter alia, in Mathews v. Underwood-Gary, 133 Md.App. 570, 758 A.2d 1019 (2000), that petitioner could not maintain the second action on the ground that it was barred by the one satisfaction rule. We agree and shall affirm.
This appeal arises out of a medical malpractice action filed in the Circuit Court for Prince George's County, in which Rita Underwood-Gary, petitioner, alleged that George J. Mathews, M.D. and Shaheer Yousaf, M.D., respondents, performed unnecessary surgery upon her. Approximately one week after entry of satisfaction of a money judgment in a 1992 lawsuit stemming from an automobile accident in the Circuit Court for Charles County (the "Thompson litigation"), petitioner filed this malpractice action in the Circuit Court for Prince George's County. In this case, we shall hold that the satisfaction of the Thompson litigation judgment precluded petitioner from pursuing claims against George J. Mathews, M.D. and Shaheer Yousaf, M.D., her treating physicians, in the subsequent medical malpractice action.
On July 10, 1991, Rita Underwood-Gary and Ms. Marie Thompson were involved in an automobile accident in Charles County, Maryland. Following the accident, petitioner developed severe pain in her lower back and, in August 1991, she began receiving treatment from Dr. Shaheer Yousaf, an orthopedic surgeon. Dr. Yousaf treated petitioner over a period of approximately seven months. The treatment did not relieve petitioner's back pain, and Dr. Yousaf concluded that petitioner suffered from an injury to the soft tissue in her back and an injury to the facet joint of the lower back. Dr. Yousaf indicated that surgery might be necessary to relieve petitioner's pain. He referred her, for a second opinion, to Dr. George J. Mathews, a neurosurgeon. After Dr. Mathews met with petitioner and reviewed her previous medical treatment, he concurred with Dr. Yousafs diagnosis of petitioner's injuries and recommended back surgery. On May 20, 1992, Drs. Yousaf and Mathews, along with Dr. Dadgar, a thoracic and vascular surgeon, performed back surgery on petitioner.
On July 22, 1992, petitioner filed a complaint sounding in negligence in the Circuit Court for Charles County against Ms. Thompson, the driver of the vehicle that collided with her on July 10, 1991, seeking recovery for the injuries allegedly suffered as a result of the automobile accident. In her complaint, petitioner alleged that Ms. Thompson negligently operated her vehicle and caused the collision. Petitioner further alleged that, as a result of the accident,
"[She had] sustained serious, painful and permanent injuries in and about her entire body, including but not limited to her head, back, hip, neck and other parts of her body; that the Plaintiff, Rita Lee Underwood, has suffered and will in the future suffer great physical pain, mental anguish and nervous shock; that the Plaintiff, Rita Lee Underwood, has in the past and will in the future be required to expend large sums of money for hospital, rehabilitation, medical and nursing care, treatment and related items."
Petitioner also claimed damages for loss of enjoyment of life, loss of income, and loss of earning power. Petitioner requested the Charles County jury to award her damages for her back surgery. Significantly, during pre-trial discovery, petitioner was placed on notice that Thompson's defense included the contention that the back surgery was unnecessary. At the latest, petitioner was on notice of the unnecessary surgery defense as of October 18, 1993, when she took the de bene esse deposition of Dr. Kevin Hanley, a defense witness. Respondent contends that Ms. Underwood-Gary knew of the unnecessary surgery defense long before this date, through Ms. Thompson's Answer to the Complaint, discovery responses, and discovery depositions, all of which predated Dr. Hanley's deposition by some time.
On October 27, 1993, the Thompson case proceeded to trial before a jury. Petitioner testified as to her entire course of therapy and treatment following the automobile accident. She offered into evidence all of the medical bills related to her treatment by Drs. Yousaf and Mathews, including the bills for the surgery and the hospital stay. She claimed a total of $38,195.28 in medical expenses, including all of the medical expenses related to the back surgery, as well as $250,000.00 for pain and suffering. Additionally, petitioner testified to the pain and physical limitations she experienced both before and after the surgery. She presented evidence that, as a result of the accident, and after the surgery, she was 30 percent permanently disabled. She described her three month recovery at a relative's house, having to miss two to three weeks of work, and her inability to sit for long periods of time. Petitioner testified to the financial strain that the injury placed on her marriage, the constant pain that she felt in her lower back, and that she could no longer participate in activities that she used to enjoy, such as bowling and walking.
During her case-in-chief in the Thompson litigation, petitioner called Drs. Yousaf and Mathews as witnesses to testify on her behalf. In addition to eliciting testimony about the nature of the surgery, petitioner's counsel inquired of Dr. Yousaf as to the necessity of the surgery:
"Q: Now, Doctor, I want to show you, Doctor, let me ask you this, do you have an opinion based on medical probability, the operation you performed in and assisted in was necessary to have in her case?
A: Based on indications."
Petitioner also called Dr. Mathews, who testified that petitioner's back surgery was related to the Thompson accident. Consistent with the pre-trial discovery, Thompson presented evidence in defense that petitioner suffered from a soft tissue injury, not a facet joint injury, and that the back surgery performed by Drs. Mathews and Yousaf was not necessary.
The jury found Ms. Thompson negligent, that petitioner had suffered injuries as a result of the accident, and awarded petitioner damages in the amount of $8,337.00 for medical expenses, $750.00 for lost wages, and $0 for pain and suffer ing. Judgment was entered in favor of petitioner for $9,087.00. Petitioner noted an appeal to the Court of Special Appeals, and while the appeal was pending, the parties settled the case for the policy limit of $20,000.00. The appeal was dismissed and an order of satisfaction was entered in the Circuit Court on May 15,1993.
Approximately one week after the court entered the order of satisfaction in the Thompson litigation, petitioner filed suit against Drs. Yousaf and Mathews, alleging in her complaint that the doctors were negligent in that petitioner did not have any of the accepted indications for surgery and that the lumbar fusion was unnecessary. Petitioner sought recovery for her medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering.
Prior to trial, Drs. Yousaf and Mathews filed motions for summary judgment, arguing that petitioner's action was barred by the doctrines of judicial estoppel, collateral estoppel, and satisfaction. The Circuit Court for Prince George's County denied the motions. At trial, petitioner offered evidence that respondents failed to meet the standard of care with regard to the decision to operate and that the surgery was unnecessary. Respondents defended on the ground that the surgery was necessary. The trial court instructed the jury that the "only issue in the case is whether the surgical treatment was negligent or not." Petitioner's counsel argued to the jury that petitioner's pain "is caused by a totally completely unnecessary operation and that it didn't have to happen, but it did."
The jury returned a verdict in petitioner's favor in the amount of $437,073.69. The Circuit Court denied respondents' post-trial motions and respondents then filed a timely appeal to the Court of Special Appeals. That court reversed the judgment on the grounds that the claim was barred by the doctrine of judicial estoppel and the one satisfaction rule. See Mathews v. Underwood-Gary, 133 Md.App. 570, 758 A.2d 1019 (2000). This Court granted Underwood-Gary's petition for writ of certiorari. Underwood-Gary v. Mathews, 362 Md. 187, 763 A.2d 734 (2000).
The Court of Special Appeals held that the Circuit Court erred in rejecting the doctors' argument that petitioner's claim for all her damages had been satisfied in the Thompson litigation. See 133 Md.App. at 581, 758 A.2d at 1024. We agree. We shall affirm the judgment of the Court of Special Appeals on the ground that petitioner's claim has been satisfied by the settlement in the Thompson litigation and shall not reach the court's alternative holding that the action is barred by the doctrine of judicial estoppel.
We begin with the general principle that a plaintiff is entitled to but one compensation for her loss and that satisfaction of her claim prevents further action against another for the same damages. See Welsh v. Gerber Products, Inc., 315 Md. 510, 524, 555 A.2d 486, 493 (1989); Morgan v. Cohen, 309 Md. 304, 312, 523 A.2d 1003, 1006 (1987); see also Knutsen v. Brown, 96 N.J.Super. 229, 232 A.2d 833, 836 (1967); Turner v. Pickens, 711 So.2d 891, 893 (Miss.1998). This rule is equitable in nature and the purpose of the rule is to prevent double recovery and, thus, unjust enrichment. See Morgan, 309 Md. at 312, 523 A.2d at 1006; Lanasa v. Beggs, 159 Md. 311, 320, 151 A. 21, 25 (1930) (noting that "[i]t is neither just nor lawful that there should be more than one satisfaction for the same injury, whether that injury be done by one or more."), rev'd on other grounds, Morgan, 309 Md. 304, 523 A.2d 1003; Sacchetti v. Springer, 303 Mass. 480, 22 N.E.2d 42 (1939); Vaca v. Whitaker, 86 N.M. 79, 519 P.2d 315, 319 (1974); see also Prosser and Keeton on Torts, § 48, at 330 (W. Page Keeton et al. eds., 5th ed.1984).
Petitioner argues that the Court of Special Appeals erred in holding that her claim was satisfied because the court ignored the fact that Ms. Thompson and Drs. Yousaf and Mathews were not joint tortfeasors and that there was a separate and distinct injury caused by the medical malpractice of the doctors. She argues that not only was the back surgery unnecessary, but that the surgery caused an additional 20 percent whole body permanent impairment rating. Petitioner concludes that because no party has asserted that respondents are joint tortfeasors, the doctrine of satisfaction should not apply to a non-party.
Petitioner ignores the well-settled principle of tort law that "a negligent actor is liable not only for harm that he directly causes but also for any additional harm resulting from normal efforts of third persons in rendering aid, irrespective of whether such acts are done in a proper or a negligent manner." Morgan, 309 Md. at 310, 523 A.2d at 1005-6. See also Restatement (Second) Of Torts § 457 cmt. c, illus. 1 (1965) (noting that original tortfeasor is liable for additional harm caused by a treating physician's improper diagnosis and unnecessary surgery). This rule is based on the premise that the negligent actor, by his or her conduct, has placed the plaintiff in a position of danger and should answer for the risks inherent in treatment and rendering aid. See Morgan, 309 Md. at 310, 523 A.2d at 1006. At the same time, when a physician negligently treats the plaintiffs injuries, the physician becomes liable to the plaintiff to the extent of the harm caused by the physician's negligence. See id. Thus, the physician's negligent treatment is a subsequent tort for which both the doctor and the original tortfeasor are jointly liable. See id.
As we have indicated, a plaintiff is entitled to but one compensation for his or her loss, and full satisfaction of a plaintiffs claim prevents it from being further pursued. Thus, while multiple tortfeasors may be jointly and severally liable for the same injury, when payment of a judgment in full is made by one tortfeasor, "there is no doubt that the plaintiff is barred from a further action against another who is liable for the same damages.... " Prosser and Keeton on Torts, § 48, at 331. Thus, double recovery for the same harm is not permissible. See Morgan, 309 Md. at 320, 523 A.2d at 1011.
While this principle appears straightforward, its application has led to confusion in the law. As we discussed in Morgan, much of the confusion resulted from the failure of courts to distinguish between jointly liable concurrent or successive tortfeasors on the one hand and true joint tortfeasors as they existed at common law, as well as the procedural rules that accompanied them. See Morgan, 309 Md. at 311, 523 A.2d at 1006. Courts also failed to distinguish between the conceptually related yet distinct concepts of a release of a claim and satisfaction of claim. See id. at 314-15, 523 A.2d at 1008. In Morgan, we clarified these distinctions and overruled our previous case law that held that a release of the original wrongdoer as a matter of law released a negligently treating physician. See id. at 320, 523 A.2d at 1011 (overruling Lanasa v. Beggs, 159 Md. 311, 151 A. 21 (1930), and inconsistent portions of Cox v. Md. Elec. Rys. Co., 126 Md. 300, 95 A. 43 (1915)). Morgan went on to hold that the effect of a release on a subsequent action against a concurrent or successive tortfeasor is a question of fact to be determined by the language in the release itself, not as a matter of law. See id. at 316, 523 A.2d at 1008-09. Significantly, we extended this rationale to determining the effect of a consent judgment and a subsequent order of satisfaction. In so doing, we stated:
"If releases given under the circumstances of these cases do not, as a matter of law, bar action against one in Dr. Cohen's position, it follows that the satisfaction of a judgment against Jones, the original tortfeasor, in an action to which Dr. Cohen was not a party, should have no greater effect. The policy implicated here is that against double recovery for the same harm, and it underlies the decisions in cases like Grantham, 251 Md. 28, 246 A.2d 548, (1968) Trieschman, 224 Md. 111, 166 A.2d 892 (1961) Lanasa, 159 Md. 311, 151 A. 21 and Cox. See also Huff v. Harbaugh, 49 Md.App. 661, 670, 435 A.2d 108, 113 (1981). But the policy against double recovery does not apply when a judgment against the original tortfeasor for the.original tort only has been satisfied, at least when the subsequent tortfeasor has not been joined in that suit. See Restatement (Second) of Judgments § 50 (1982). Like the question of intent with respect to the ambiguous releases, we are presented with a question of fact: Did the satisfied judgment include damages for both torts, or just the original tort? If the judgment in fact encompassed the former, HovermilTs claim against Dr. Cohen is barred because she has received full compensation for all her injuries; if it encompassed only the latter, her claim is not barred because she has been compensated only for the initial harm caused by Jones. This is a question of fact for the trial court."
309 Md. at 320-21, 523 A.2d at 1011.
It is ordinarily a question of fact whether the judgment in the first action encompassed all the injuries sustained by the plaintiff and included those alleged in the second action to be attributable to the doctor's alleged malpractice. As several of our sister states have recognized, however, although the scope of the satisfied judgment appears to be a question of fact, where, as here, the satisfaction of judgment follows a full trial of the merits, the issue is properly decided by the trial court on a motion for summary judgment. See, e.g., Williams v. Woodman, 424 So.2d 611, 614-15 (Ala.1982); Cimino v. Alway, 18 Ariz.App. 271, 501 P.2d 447, 453 (1972); Knutsen v. Brown, 96 N.J.Super. 229, 232 A.2d 833, 837 (1967); Vaca v. Whitaker, 86 N.M. 79, 519 P.2d 315, 320 (1974). As the court in Knutsen stated:
"That issue is not to be resolved, as the opinion below directs, by having the jury in the malpractice case evaluate all plaintiffs 'injuries and damages caused by all the tortfea-sors' and comparing its evaluation with the $ 17,000 award ed by the jury in the automobile accident case. Such a comparison would be of no legal significance. The very nature of the process of admeasuring damages for personal injuries results in different juries reaching different results in evaluating the same injuries.
The injuries for which plaintiff seeks recovery in the malpractice case are those set forth in plaintiffs answers to interrogatories and in the pretrial order. The injuries for which plaintiff recovered damages in the automobile accident case are to be ascertained by the court from an examination of the pertinent portions of the record in that case. Such portions of the record may include plaintiffs answers to interrogatories, the pretrial order, the testimony, the charge of the court and the opening and closing statements of counsel.
The procedure to be followed is analogous to that used in deciding a plea of collateral estoppel in order to ascertain whether or not the issues sought to be presented in the instant case were presented at the former trial.
Since resolution of the posed question involves a study and comparison of the records in the two cases, the issue is to be tried by the court, not by the jury. The issue should be disposed of before trial of the merits of the malpractice action and may properly be decided upon a motion for summary judgment."
Knutsen, 232 A.2d at 836-37 (citations omitted).
We agree with the rationale set forth by the court in Knutsen. The preclusive effect of a satisfied judgment in a prior case is properly a question for the trial judge, not the jury.
A review of the provided portions of the trial record from the Thompson litigation demonstrates that the satisfied judgment in the Thompson litigation embodies an evaluation as to all of the harms that Petitioner later claimed in the malpractice action. Petitioner sought to recover the same post-surgery medical expenses that she presented to the jury in the Thompson litigation, including the Yousaf and Mathews medical bills, hospital bills, and other bills related to postoperative treatment. Petitioner also sought recovery for the same pain and suffering. In both cases, petitioner presented evidence of her fifty years life expectancy and requested the jury to compensate her for future pain and physical limitations that accompanied her back injury. Petitioner also argued to both juries that, after the surgery, she was approximately 30 percent permanently disabled. In the medical malpractice action, she presented evidence that approximately 20 percent of her permanent disability was attributable to the unnecessary surgery. The surgery may have contributed to the severity of petitioner's permanent disability, but, in the Thompson litigation, petitioner specifically sought to recover damages for the entire 30 percent disability. The jury evaluated her claim and awarded damages for the full 30 percent permanent disability. All of the harm claimed in the present case was included among the harms alleged to have resulted from the negligence in the Thompson litigation. The Thompson jury evaluated all of the claims and determined their worth in a verdict that was embodied in a judgment and marked satisfied. That judgment now precludes relitigating the value of the claims actually litigated. Therefore, all of Petitioner's claimed damages have been satisfied.
Chief Judge Murphy, writing for the Court of Special Appeals, observed that
"[wjhile the amount of the auto negligence settlement may not have been 'satisfactory' to appellee, when the damage claim that she had been asserting was 'satisfied' as a matter of law, she was thereafter prohibited from recovering more funds for the same injuries. Having filed an order of satisfaction in the (auto negligence) Charles County case, appellee could not thereafter assert an 'unnecessary surgery' claim in the Circuit Court for Prince George's County."
Mathews v. Gary, 138 Md.App. at 583, 758 A.2d at 1025. We agree. In the Thompson litigation, plaintiff presented evidence of all of her injuries arising from the accident and from the surgery. Petitioner has identified no new and independent injury that was not presented to the Thompson jury. As such, there are no damages that remain to be recovered in the medical malpractice action.
JUDGMENT OF THE COURT OF SPECIAL APPEALS AFFIRMED. COSTS TO BE PAID BY PETITIONER.
Dissenting Opinion by BELL, C.J.
. Maryland Rule 2-626(a) provides as follows:
"Upon being paid all amounts due on a money judgment, the judgment creditor shall furnish to the judgment debtor and file with the clerk a written statement that the judgment has been satisfied. Upon the filing of the statement the clerk shall enter the judgment satisfied."
. A satisfaction of a judgment is " 'an acceptance of full compensation for the injury.' " Morgan v. Cohen, 309 Md. 304, 312, 523 A.2d 1003, 1007 (1987) (quoting Prosser, Joint Torts and Several Liability, 25 Cal. L.Rev. 413, 421-22 (1937)).
. In closing argument to the jury in the Thompson litigation, petitioner's counsel argued that the surgery was called for. He argued: "You didn't hear any testimony saying that he shouldn't have done that. It was called for and was an effort to relieve this woman."
. The verdict sheet presented to the jury did not include a question or questions requiring it to specify whether it was persuaded that Petitioner's back surgery was necessary or that Petitioner's claimed injuries to her vertebral facets, as opposed to the soft tissue injuries, were caused by the collision with Thompson's vehicle.
. The record in this case contains no information concerning any release that may have been executed contemporaneously with the dismissal of the appeal and the entry of the order of satisfaction in the Thompson litigation.
. Judicial estoppel has been defined as a principle that precludes a party from taking a position in a subsequent action inconsistent with a position taken by him or her in a previous action. See WinMark Ltd. P'ship v. Miles & Stockbridge, 345 Md. 614, 693 A.2d 824 (1997). Petitioner argues before this Court that at no time did she attempt to mislead the court in any manner, and, in fact, no such issue has ever been raised in this case. Inasmuch as we decide this case on the basis of the one satisfaction rule, we do not reach the issue of judicial estoppel.
. In Morgan, we explained the common law understanding of the term "joint tortfeasor," stating:
"The early 'joint tortfeasor' cases were limited to defendants who acted in concert, and the act of one was considered the act of all. Damages in those cases were entire; that is, each defendant was liable jointly and severally with the others for all of the damages. That is because there was but one wrong, though its commission was a joint enterprise, and therefore there was but a single cause of action. It is easy to see that a judgment against one tortfeasor would excuse the rest, because the judgment would extinguish the cause of action."
Morgan, 309 Md. at 311, 523 A.2d at 1006.
In this case, Ms. Thompson and Drs. Yousaf and Mathews are successive tortfeasors. Successive tortfeasors are "those whose negligent acts produce discrete, albeit overlapping or otherwise related, injuries." Gen. Accident Ins. Co. of Am. v. Schoendorf, 202 Wis.2d 98, 549 N.W.2d 429, 432 (1996).
. We discussed the distinction between a release and a satisfaction in Trieschman v. Eaton, 224 Md. 111, 166 A.2d 892 (1961). We stated:
"There is a genuine distinction between a satisfaction and a release. A satisfaction is an acceptance of full compensation for the injury; a release is a surrender of the cause of action, which may be gratuitous, or given for inadequate consideration. Most of the courts have continued to hold that a release to one of two concurrent tortfeasors is a complete surrender of any cause of action against the other, without regard to the sufficiency of the compensation actually received . This result has been justly condemned. Historically, and logically, it has no justification, since causes of action against mere concurrent tortfeasors not acting in concert have always been separate and a surrender of one therefore should not discharge the other, except to the extent that there has been full compensation. The fear of double recovery is meaningless, since the amount paid under the release must be credited to the second tortfeasor in any case."
Id. at 116-17 n. 4, 166 A.?d at 895 n. 4 (quoting William Prosser, Torts § 46, at 243-44 (2d ed.1955)) (citations omitted).
. The present case differs from Morgan in an important respect. Unlike the satisfied consent judgment in Morgan, the satisfied judgment in the Thompson litigation followed a full trial on the merits. As such, this case presents collateral estoppel issues not present in Morgan. Petitioner potentially is estopped from relitigating issues, including the value of the alleged damages, fully litigated in the Thompson litigation. Commentary to the Restatement of Judgments explains this preclusive effect:
"Amount of loss adjudicated. . The adjudication of the amount of the loss also has the effect of establishing the limit of the injured party's entitlement to redress, whoever the obligor may be. This is because the determination of the amount of the loss resulting from actual litigation of the issue of damages results in the injured person's being precluded from relitigating the damages question. Therefore, when a judgment is based on actual litigation of the measure of a loss, and the judgment is thereafter paid in full, the injured party has no enforceable claim against any other obligor who is responsible for the same loss."
Restatement (Second) of Judgments § 50 cmt. d (1982).
In Welsh v. Gerber Products, Inc., 315 Md. 510, 555 A.2d 486 (1989), in response to a question certified to this Court by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, this Court elucidated the distinction between agreements of settlement or consent judgments on the one hand and judgments entered to embody the result of an adjudication on the merits after litigation on the other. In Welsh, an automobile collision case, an action was brought against the driver, Voight, to recover damages for personal injuries sustained by an infant while riding in an infant car seat. The suit was settled and a judgment for the amount of the settlement was entered to protect' Voight against the risk of additional litigation when the infant reached the age of maturity. Thereafter, a second action was brought on behalf of the same infant plaintiff against the manufacturer of the car seat the infant was riding in at the time of the collision. We stated:
"When an action for damages proceeds to trial and a judgment is entered on the verdict, that judgment represents a final determination of the plaintiff's claim for those damages. It is entirely appropriate to bind the plaintiff to that assessment of damages, directly and collaterally, even though the determination may be less than the plaintiff believes is fair, or may be thought to have been the result of jury compromise. If there is error in the award, relief must be sought by the appropriate post-trial motion. Once final, the judgment is properly given preclusive effect as to the issues actually litigated. But these principles do not necessarily apply to a consent judgment."
Id. at 523, 555 A.2d at 492. We "reject[ed] as unrealistic the notion that every consent judgment necessarily embodies actual litigation of the issue of damages." Id. at 522, 555 A.2d at 492. Under the circumstances of the case, we noted that the consent judgment was no bar to the proceedings against Gerber. Id. at 525, 555 A.2d at 493. Following Welsh, the previously quoted language from Morgan should not be read to apply to judgments entered to adjudicate the merits of a litigated controversy. Rather, to determine the scope of a satisfied award of damages from a previous trial, a court must examine which issues and damages were presented in the first trial and, thus, are precluded from being relitigated in the second.
. The record in the present case fails to demonstrate conclusively that the jury in the Thompson litigation accepted or rejected the defendant's defense that the surgery was unnecessary. The jury verdict, and the subsequent policy limit settlement on appeal, do not permit, on this record, either the trial court in the present case or this Court to speculate as to how the Thompson jury parsed (if it did) the various claims made and damages sought by Petitioner. The only legal conclusion that may be reached on this record is that the jury awarded Petitioner $ 9,087 for all of the injuries and damages she claimed in that trial.