Opinion ID: 765406
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Aggravation of a Pre-Existing Condition

Text: 9 During the course of the trial, testimony was elicited from both Reed's and Union Pacific's medical experts that Reed had a degenerative disk disease that existed prior to the accident of September 1, 1994. Because of this fact, Reed tendered Illinois Pattern Jury Instruction (IPI) 30.03 which states: 10 If you decide for the plaintiff on the question of liability, you must then fix the amount of money which will reasonably and fairly compensate him for any of the following elements of damages proved by the evidence to have resulted from the negligence of the defendant, taking into consideration the nature, extent and duration of the injury. 11 The aggravation of any pre-existing ailment or condition. 12 Whether any of these elements of damages has been proved by the evidence is for you to determine. 13 IPI 30.01, 30.03. In addition, Reed tendered IPI 30.21 which states: 14 If you decide for the plaintiff on the question of liability, you may not deny or limit the plaintiff's right to damages resulting from this occurrence because any injury resulted from an aggravation of a pre-existing condition. 15 IPI. 30.21. The district court refused to give these instructions. The court determined that, as a matter of law, the aggravation of a pre- existing condition is a separate element of damages, but the evidence in this case did not warrant the instruction. The court did not think that the law was meant to encompass the aggravation of unknown conditions. The court also concluded that everyone over the age of thirty has some sort of pre-existing condition, and that an MRI would find something wrong with almost everyone. Therefore, the court chose a verdict form that listed only the following as elements of damages to which Reed was entitled if the jury found Union Pacific to be negligent: (1) disability, (2) disfigurement, (3) pain and suffering, (4) medical expenses, and (5) lost earnings. The court ruled that it would not give the instructions for the aggravation of a pre- existing condition as a separate element, and he challenged the parties to go down a quarter of a mile, turn right and drive for about six hours and let those people up there tell me I'm wrong. 16 The district court's suggestion was well taken, for we find that the district court was wrong. The case law in Illinois overwhelmingly supports Reed's position that IPI 30.03 and 30.21 should have been given to the jury. See, e.g., Kravcik v. Golub & Co., Inc., 676 N.E.2d 668 (Ill. App. Ct. 1997) (aggravation of pre-existing condition is a separate element of damages); Podoba v. Pyramid Elec., Inc., 667 N.E.2d 167 (Ill. App. Ct. 1996) (combination of IPI 30.03 and 30.21 is the present state of the law in Illinois); Ficken v. Alton & S. Ry. Co., 625 N.E.2d 1172 (Ill. App. Ct. 1993) (same). 17 One Illinois appellate court has found differently. In Smith v. City of Evanston, 631 N.E.2d 1269 (Ill. App. Ct. 1994), the appellate court determined that the aggravation of a pre- existing condition did not constitute a separate element of damages. Id. at 1277. In its reasoning, the Illinois appellate court stated that the IPI were drafted before the advent of itemized verdict sheets and many of the items on the jury sheets are duplicative. Id. at 1276. Thus, it ruled that an award for the aggravation of a pre-existing condition would over-compensate the plaintiff because aggravation of a pre- existing injury overlaps with awards for other elements of damages. Id. at 1277. This ruling has been referred to as an aberration of the existing Illinois authority. Kravcik, 676 N.E.2d at 673. 18 In direct conflict with Smith, however, numerous Illinois appellate courts have held that itemized jury sheets do not create duplicative awards, and a jury can determine whether a plaintiff suffered damages from the aggravation of a pre-existing condition, as well as make an independent determination whether the plaintiff suffered additional damages for increased pain and suffering from the aggravation of that condition. See, e.g., Tedeschi v. Burlington Northern R. Co., 668 N.E.2d 138 (Ill. App. Ct. 1996); Knight v. Lord, 648 N.E.2d 617 (Ill. App. Ct. 1995). Given the case law in Illinois, we hold that IPI 30.03 and 30.21 correctly state the law in Illinois. 19 Having decided this, we must now determine whether the evidence in this case warranted the instructions. The district court refused the instruction based on its notion that, even though the undisputed testimony showed that Reed had a pre-existing degenerative disk condition, everyone over the age of thirty has some sort of pre-existing medical condition and Reed did not manifest any symptoms of his condition. Whether or not this is true, it misses the point. Every doctor who testified agreed that Reed had a pre- existing degenerative disk disease and that the accident aggravated that condition. This is not a case of a pre-existing condition that was unrelated to the injury caused by the defendant's negligence. Nor is this a case where the aggravation of a pre-existing condition was not proximately caused by the defendant's negligence. In Gruidl v. Schell, 519 N.E.2d 963 (Ill. App. Ct. 1988), the Illinois appellate court ruled that the trial court correctly refused to give the instruction providing for aggravation of a pre-existing condition as a separate element of damages. Id. at 967. In that case, the plaintiff was suffering from cancer. Id. The court ruled that, because of the unfortunate fact that cancer is an ever-spreading disease, neither a prompt diagnosis nor any action by the defendants would have prevented the spreading of the disease. Id. at 968. The court noted that while a tortfeasor must take his plaintiff as he finds him, he cannot be held liable for the aggravation of a pre-existing condition that is not proximately caused by his negligence. Id. at 967-68. 20 Here, the evidence is undisputed that the accident on September 1, 1994 aggravated Reed's otherwise asymptomatic degenerative disk disease. The fact that his condition had previously been asymptomatic is of no consequence. Under the district court's ruling, anyone with a latent pre-existing condition would be barred from recovering for another's negligence that aggravated that condition. Such a rule makes little sense and goes against the well-settled notion that a defendant must take his plaintiff as he finds him. See Balestri v. Terminal Freight Co-op. Ass'n, 394 N.E.2d 391 (Ill. 1979). The IPI make no requirement for the plaintiff to either have known about the pre-existing condition or to have shown symptoms of the pre-existing condition in order to be entitled to the instruction for the aggravation of that condition. The question of damages in a personal injury case is peculiarly one for the trier of fact. Kirk v. Walter E. Deuchler Associates, Inc., 398 N.E.2d 603, 610 (Ill. App. Ct. 1979). 21 This appears to be a case where both sides agreed that Reed suffered from a pre-existing condition, but each side submitted this evidence for different reasons. Presumably, Reed offered it to increase his damages award under the theory that a defendant must take his plaintiff as he finds him, and Union Pacific is therefore liable for any aggravation of his pre-existing condition. On the other hand, Union Pacific seems to have submitted the same evidence to rebut the argument that its negligence was the proximate cause of Reed's injuries and to argue that his injuries are the result of something else, namely the pre-existing condition. However, since the jury determined that Union Pacific was liable for Reed's injuries, and the evidence adduced at trial showed that the accident aggravated Reed's pre-existing condition, it is apparent that the district court should have tendered IPI 30.03 and 30.21. The aggravation of a pre-existing condition should have been listed as a separate item on the verdict form, and the issue should have been left to the jury to decide whether Reed was entitled to compensation for it. The trial judge impermissibly took this duty away from the jury and supplanted his own opinion on the issue, thereby abusing his discretion in refusing to give IPI 30.03 and 30.21.