Court Opinion

ID: 9783555
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-30 19:49:02.355388+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:35:25.779044
License: Public Domain

THOMPSON, Judge,
Concurring In Part and Dissenting In Part:
I concur with the majority’s legal analysis and opinion regarding the zero dollar verdict for pain and suffering even with a finding of negligence. However, I disagree with the majority’s holding that Dennis cannot recover medical expenses to the extent the damages were “written off’ by the hospital.
The issue regarding the “write off’ of the hospital bill was presented by filing a motion to vacate the judgment and supported only by a brief affidavit of Twin Lakes Regional’s CEO. I fail to understand how it can be said that the affidavit of a non-party creditor to the litigation reciting that the debt has been “written-off’ is sufficient to deny Dennis of the jury award.
The term “written off’ is a common business accounting term meaning only that the debt is removed from the internal bookkeeping procedures eliminating it as an accounts receivable. However, until the applicable statute of limitations expires, there is no legal impediment to the creditor’s pursuit of the debt. In fact, “written off’ accounts are frequently sold to collection agencies who receive a percentage of the amount collected and the balance returned to the creditor.
In this case, there was no language in the affidavit submitted by Twin Lakes Regional that would prevent pursuit of its legal rights to collect the debt owed. To the contrary, the affidavit only states that it is not pursuing collection from Dennis. It does not state that it will not pursue collection in the future. Thus, the majority’s conclusion that Dennis will reap a double recovery if he is permitted to recover the awai*d for past medical expenses is based on its assumption that Twin Lakes Regional will not assert its legal remedies. Unfortunately, if the majority’s assumption is erroneous, Dennis will be held liable for a debt attributable to Fulkerson’s negligence and jeopardize his credit rating.
Therefore, the trial court properly denied the motion to vacate the judgment on the basis that Twin Lakes Regional had “written off’ the debt on its internal books. I would affirm.