Court Opinion

ID: 9940050
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-02-13 17:02:05.459391+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:42:19.655225
License: Public Domain

The central issue in this case is whether alleged acts of negligence by the Gabriels caused the death of Lovewell's filly. Though Lovewell presented no expert testimony, the majority nevertheless concludes the evidence is legally and factually sufficient to support the jury's finding of negligence and proximate cause. The majority reaches this conclusion after holding Lovewell was not required to present expert testimony on the issue of causation. Because I disagree with that assessment of the law, I respectfully dissent.
Lovewell's suit against the Gabriels alleged sixteen theories of negligence. A cause of action for ordinary negligence requires a showing (1) that the defendant owed the plaintiff a duty recognized by law, (2) that there was a breach of that duty, (3) that the breach of the defendant's duty proximately caused injury to the plaintiff, and (4) that the plaintiff suffered actual loss or damages as a result of the defendant's negligent conduct.Southwest Key Program, Inc. v. Gil-Perez, 81 S.W.3d 269, 273-74
(Tex. 2002); Sunbridge Healthcare Corp. v. Penny,160 S.W.3d 230, 243, 2005 Tex.App. LEXIS 1887, at *26 (Tex.App.-Texarkana Mar.11, 2005, no pet.). "An essential element of the plaintiff's cause of action for negligence, or for that matter for any other tort, is that there be some reasonable connection between the act or omission of the defendant and the damage which the plaintiff has suffered. Prosser, Law of Torts (3rd Ed.) 240-241, `Causation', 41 (1964)." E. Tex. Theatres, Inc. v. Rutledge,453 S.W.2d 466, 468 (Tex. 1970).
Lovewell alleged that the Gabriels committed acts or omissions that proximately caused the death of the horse. Therefore, proof of the cause of the death of the horse was required. The majority opinion states that the circumstances surrounding the cause of the filly's death were matters within the jury's common understanding. In this case, the evidence shows that the horse died from renal failure due to complications from endotoxemia resulting from Colitis X. May a jury make the determination, without expert testimony, that the actions or omissions of the Gabriels were the cause in fact of the horse contracting Colitis X causing endotoxemia and renal failure and ultimately death? The veterinarians testified that no act or omissions of the Gabriels caused the death of the horse. It is undisputed that there are many *Page 850 
causes of Colitis X. The Texas Supreme Court has stated:
 In determining the question of proximate cause, the general rule is "that proof of causation must be beyond a showing of a possibility that the injuries arose from the defendant's negligence or lack of skill, since the jury will not be permitted to speculate as to the cause of the injury. Thus where the evidence most favorably to the plaintiff develops more than one equally probable cause, for one or more of which defendant is not responsible, the plaintiff has failed to sustain his burden of proof."
Hart v. Van Zandt, 399 S.W.2d 791, 792-93 (Tex. 1965) (quoting 13 A.L.R.2d 22) (superseded by statute on other grounds, seePeterson v. Shields, 652 S.W.2d 929, 930 (Tex. 1983)).
Though not precisely on point, a recent decision by the Second Court of Appeals supports the Gabriels' position that Lovewell was required to present expert testimony at trial regarding causation. In McGee v. Smith, a horse owner sued a veterinarian for negligent care that allegedly led to the death of a foal.107 S.W.3d 725, 726-27 (Tex.App.-Fort Worth 2003, pet. denied). The horse owner offered no expert testimony at trial on the element of causation. Id. at 727. Instead, the owner "relied on his own testimony and that of his father-in-law. Although both men had been involved in the horse industry for many years, neither was qualified as an expert in veterinary medicine." Id. The court of appeals wrote that veterinary malpractice cases, like medical malpractice cases, require the plaintiff to provide expert testimony to prove causation "unless the form or mode of treatment is a matter of common knowledge, or the matter is within the experience of a layperson." Id. The McGee court ultimately held the dearth of expert evidence on behalf of the plaintiff's case was insufficient to support the jury's verdict.Id. at 728. The court then reversed the trial court's judgment and rendered a take — nothing judgment for the veterinarian.Id.
Given the facts of this case — the array of drugs (Rebound, Naxcell, Erythromycin, Banamine, Ampicillin, and Gentamicin) that had been recently administered to the horse, the side effects of those drugs to create or exacerbate other life-threatening illnesses, the short onset of death (less than one week passed from the onset of symptoms until the filly's death), the complex nature of the disease, and the treatment by multiple veterinarians and other care providers — I believe that understanding the proximate cause of the filly's death would be outside the purview of a layperson's common knowledge or experience. Jurors do not commonly have experience in diagnosing the cause of a disease or ailment, especially in equines. Without expert testimony, the jury must engage in speculation to conclude that the actions of the Gabriels proximately caused the death of the horse. Even if there is evidence of the Gabriels' negligence, there must be a connection between the negligence and the death of the animal. In cases involving the diagnosis and progression of a disease leading to death, that connecting link is supplied by expert testimony. See Ins. Co. of N. Am. v. Myers,411 S.W.2d 710, 713 (Tex. 1966); Tex. Employers Ins. Ass'n v.Gallegos, 415 S.W.2d 708, 711 (Tex.Civ.App.-San Antonio 1967, no writ). I believe the causal nexus between the alleged acts of negligence and the death of the filly should have been established and supported by expert testimony presented during Lovewell's case-in-chief.
Though this is not a malpractice case, the facts and issues are more than sufficiently akin to the complex area of veterinary science that I believe similar expert *Page 851 
testimony was essential to aid the jury. I do not believe there is any probative evidence to support the jury's finding on causation and, therefore, the case should be reversed and rendered.