Court Opinion

ID: 9849913
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 04:49:22.07127+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:20:28.396679
License: Public Domain

Felton, Chief Judge,
dissenting. I cannot agree with the conclusions in Divisions 2 and 3 of the majority opinion on the *812issue of future medical expenses. Assuming, as contended by the plaintiff, that there is some evidence to show that medical expenses will be incurred in the future for treatment of his son’s injuries, there is no evidence to guide the jury in arriving at the reasonable value of such expenses. The plaintiff himself did state that in his opinion, “$50 a month would be cheap” but admitted on cross-examination that he was “just guessing at it.” Dr. Frederick Lovell testified that “a condition like that would require a lengthy course of treatment.” The plaintiff’s son testified that he had never stopped going to doctors for treatment and had never recovered from his injuries. None of the medical witnesses testified as to the frequency or cost of future treatments. In my opinion there was no substantial evidence to guide the jury in arriving at the reasonable value of future medical expenses. Georgia Power Co. v. Watts, 56 Ga. App. 322, 324 (192 S.E. 493).
I further believe that the failure of the court to charge the jury that the plaintiff could recover future medical expenses only up to the time his son reached the age of 21 years was prejudicial error. While no written request for such instructions was made at the trial, this issue was raised by the pleadings and the evidence, and the failure of the court to instruct upon it was error. “It is the settled general rule that a trial judge, whether requested in writing or not, should give to the jury appropriate instructions on every substantial, vital, and controlling issue presented by the pleadings and evidence.” Rome Ry. & Light Co. v. King, 33 Ga. App. 383 (2) (126 S. E. 294) and cases cited. Furthermore, I do not think this issue was satisfactorily presented by the court’s references to the pleadings, as stated in the majority opinion. The trial judge did not read the pleadings on this point in his instructions to the jury, but simply stated: “I am not going to read you the pleadings in this case verbatim. . . . You will have all of these pleadings out with you, and you may read the plaintiff’s petition. . . . and thoroughly understand for yourselves the contentions which the parties are making in this case.” (Emphasis added.) I do not think that this language was an appropriate instruction upon this substantial and vital ■issue.
Carlisle, J., concurs in the foregoing dissent.