Opinion ID: 172194
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Evidence of Mrs. Neiberger's Medical Expenses

Text: Under the Colorado no-fault statute, Mrs. Neiberger could bring a tort suit by proving (among other alternatives) that the accident had caused her to undergo reasonably needed medical treatment whose reasonable value exceeded $2,500. She challenges the district court's exclusion of testimony by her economics expert, Thomas Roney, and her occupational-therapy and life-care-planning expert, Doris Shriver, regarding her medical expenses. We discern no error. We can quickly dispose of the claim regarding Shriver. The record on appeal contains only a few pages of Shriver's testimony, and no mention of medical expenses appears in this excerpt. As a result, we cannot determine what, if any, testimony was excluded. A party who seeks to reverse the decision of a district court must provide an adequate record for this court to determine that error was committed. Travelers Indem. Co. v. Accurate Autobody, Inc., 340 F.3d 1118, 1119 (10th Cir.2003). Accordingly, we do not consider Mrs. Neiberger's contention with respect to Shriver's testimony. In any event, Mrs. Neiberger loses on the merits. She testified that she had incurred $184,000 in medical bills [s]ince the accident. Aplts. App. Vol. 2 at 266. But she did not put on testimony by a treating physician to establish that particular outlays were reasonable and necessary to treat injuries caused by the accident. Although Dr. Odom testified that his treatment of Mrs. Neiberger was necessary to try to heal her, id. at 307(e), his statement is ambiguous regarding whether the treatment was needed for her scoliosis, injuries caused by the accident, or both. Likewise, Mrs. Neiberger's family doctor, Dr. Victor Lopez, testified that his treatment of Mrs. Neiberger since the accident had been reasonable and necessary, but he did not identify specific treatments related to the accident or their costs. Thus, when Roney, who was to render his opinion of Mrs. Neiberger's total financial loss from the accident, began to offer testimony that incorporated the $184,000 figure given by Mrs. Neiberger, defense counsel objected. At the bench conference that followed, this exchange took place: [Defendants' counsel]: The objection is that even if [Mrs. Neiberger] was asked what the medical bills were, ... that's not competent to establish that those medical bills are related to the accident or that they are reasonable and necessary. That information has not been offered. The plaintiffs have not listed any medical bills or medical bills summary or any sort of calculation as an exhibit in this case.... Court: What evidence is there of medical expenses beyond Mrs. Neiberger's testimony? [Mrs. Neiberger's counsel]: That's what we have, Your Honor, that she knows what she was billed and she knows what she was facing. [Defendants' counsel]: That's not competent, Your Honor. Id. at 279-80. The district court sustained Defendants' objection. Mrs. Neiberger never made the necessary evidentiary showing that her injuries from the accident required her to expend more than $2,500 for reasonably necessary medical or rehabilitative treatment. Even if she had attempted to introduce medical bills or bill summaries into evidence, she would still have needed to establish that the associated treatment was reasonable and necessary and stemmed from the accident. See Jorgensen v. Heinz, 847 P.2d 181, 183 (Colo.Ct. App.1992). She asserts that her testimony about her medical expenses was sufficient foundation, arguing that because she received the treatment, her testimony as to the amount would provide a reasonable inference that the medical expenses were incurred as a result of the incident and that the medical bills were reasonable and necessary. Aplts. Reply Br. at 31. We disagree. Mrs. Neiberger was not competent to testify to the reasonable need for her treatment or to its being caused by the accident (as opposed to her preexisting scoliosis or her smoking). These were matters for expert medical opinion. We review the exclusion of evidence for an abuse of discretion. See Whittington v. Nordam Group Inc., 429 F.3d 986, 1000 (10th Cir.2005). The district court did not abuse its discretion in ruling on this issue.