Opinion ID: 1787070
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: the trial court erred by granting jury instruction d-3.

Text: ¶ 26. Herring contends that the trial court erred in granting jury instruction D-3, which provided as follows: You are instructed that a plaintiff is under a duty after suffering harm, if any, to exercise due care and to take reasonable steps to avoid or diminish the damages resulting from that harm. You are further instructed that a plaintiff is not entitled to recover damages for the harm that he could have avoided by the use of due care, nor for the harm which proximately resulted from his own conduct, if any, which contributed to his damages. If you find from a preponderance of the evidence in this case that Kenneth Herring was instructed by his physician to take certain steps in an attempt to treat the medical conditions which he, Kenneth Herring, claims resulted from the accident of November 18, 1994, and if you further find that Kenneth Herring failed to follow his physician's instructions in that regard, and if you further find that such failure on the part of Kenneth Herring, if any, caused him to endure certain medical conditions or incur certain bills that he otherwise would have avoided by following his physician's instructions, then you are instructed that Kenneth Herring is not entitled to recover damages for those medical conditions and/or medical bills that he would have avoided by following his physician's instructions. ¶ 27. A jury instruction may not be given unless it is supported by some evidentiary basis in the record. Perry v. State, 637 So.2d 871, 877 (Miss.1994); Gayle v. State, 743 So.2d 392, 401 (Miss.Ct. App.1999). Herring asserts that this instruction should not have been allowed because it was not supported by the evidence introduced. During the charge conference, Herring's attorney argued that there was no testimony that Herring failed to mitigate his damages and also that there was no testimony that Herring's injuries had been augmented or prolonged or more medical bills had been incurred because Herring failed to follow through with the physical therapy recommendations by Dr. Danielson. ¶ 28. Herring's argument is without merit. As Poirrier asserts, there was ample evidence at trial to support the above instruction. There was a significant amount of evidence that Herring disregarded the advice of his physician, Dr. Danielson. Herring testified that during his first examination by Dr. Danielson, Dr. Danielson prescribed nine sessions of physical therapy. Herring testified that he went to no more than three of the sessions because he suffers from claustrophobia and the therapy rooms were too small. Herring testified that Dr. Danielson again prescribed physical therapy in January 1996 and that he did not attend the sessions. Herring stated that he informed Dr. Danielson that he was unable to attend the therapy sessions. Herring testified that Dr. Danielson prescribed physical therapy a third time in February 1998 and that Herring again told Dr. Danielson he could not attend the sessions. However, Dr. Danielson testified that Herring never informed him that he had stopped going to the physical therapy sessions. ¶ 29. Herring's assertion that there was no evidence that Herring's injuries were augmented or prolonged or that more medical bills had been incurred because of his failure to continue with the physical therapy sessions is erroneous. At the time of the trial, Herring had already undergone one surgery, and Dr. Danielson had recommended that he undergo another in the future. Included within the damages sought by Herring at trial were these medical bills. Dr. Danielson testified that he would not have recommended surgery for Herring had he known that Herring had not complied with his recommendations regarding the physical therapy. He also stated that Herring's failure to comply with his instructions could impair Herring's ability to recover without the necessity of surgery. ¶ 30. Other evidence existed that Herring failed to comply with Dr. Danielson's instructions. Herring testified that he did not take the pain medication prescribed by Dr. Danielson because it made him sleepy. Herring stated that he had testified during his deposition that he did not inform Dr. Danielson that he was not taking the medication and that he did not give Dr. Danielson an opportunity to prescribe another drug which might not have undesirable side effects. ¶ 31. Dr. Danielson stated that at Herring's first appointment in February 1995, he advised Herring that he should schedule another appointment soon, but that he did not see Herring again until the following year in January 1996. Dr. Danielson testified that he performed a myelogram and CT scan in January 1996, and at that time diagnosed Mr. Herring as having a herniated L¾ disk. At that time, Dr. Danielson advised Herring to schedule another appointment in four to six weeks, but he did not see Herring again until July 1996. Herring testified that he did not return for an examination between the time Dr. Danielson recommended surgery in July 1996 to the date of the surgery in January 1998, even though Dr. Danielson testified that he advised Herring to return in two months for a re-examination. ¶ 32. Certainly, there was ample evidence introduced by Poirrier at trial to support the above instruction.