Collins v. Louisiana State Police

158 So. 3d 17, 13 La.App. 3 Cir. 412, 2013 WL 6926520, 2013 La. App. LEXIS 2133
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedOctober 23, 2013
DocketNo. 13-412
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 158 So. 3d 17 (Collins v. Louisiana State Police) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Collins v. Louisiana State Police, 158 So. 3d 17, 13 La.App. 3 Cir. 412, 2013 WL 6926520, 2013 La. App. LEXIS 2133 (La. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

SAUNDERS, Judge.

|, This is a personal injury case stemming from an automobile collision wherein a jury found for the plaintiff. Thereafter, the plaintiff filed a motion for a Judgment Notwithstanding the Verdict (JNOV). The trial court granted the plaintiffs motion and increased certain categories of damages. Defendants appeal. We affirm.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY:

On May 4, 2004, plaintiff, Kimberly Collins (Ms. Collins), was injured in an automobile accident when a vehicle being driven by defendant, Trooper Jarrett Dobson (Trooper Dobson), struck the vehicle she was driving at an intersection in Lake Charles. Trooper Dobson was within the course and scope of his employment with the defendant, Louisiana State Police (LSP). The intersection was controlled by a stop sign, and Ms. Collins was travelling on the favored road. Trooper Dobson failed to stop at the stop sign and collided with Ms. Collins.

On May 5, 2005, Ms. Collins filed suit against Trooper Dobson and the LSP (collectively “Defendants”) individually, and on behalf of her of minor daughter. Liability was then decided at a Motion for Partial Summary Judgment granted in favor of plaintiffs,1 holding Defendants 100% at fault.

According to the testimony of Trooper Dobson, there was only minor damage to the vehicles, no injuries were reported at the scene, and Ms. Collins drove away in her vehicle after the investigation was complete. However, Ms. Collins visited the emergency room later that same day seeking medical treatment for pain in her back, neck, and shoulder.

LOn May 21, 2004, Ms. Collins saw Dr. Percival Kane, her family physician. Dr. Kane diagnosed Ms. Collins with neck, shoulder, and back pain. He observed no spasms. He continued to treat her conservatively with medication and referred her to physical therapist, Timothy Naquin, who treated her cervical and lumbar strain and her shoulder injury. After three weeks, Naquin reported her progress was fair to good.

About one month following the accident, Ms. Collins became pregnant. A cervical MRI which had been ordered by Dr. Kane was delayed until September 2, 2004. The MRI was negative for the cervical spine, with no noted disc herniation or spinal stenosis. When Ms. Collins did not improve, Dr. Kane referred her to an orthopedist, Dr. Lynn Foret, in October of 2004.

Dr. Foret began treating Ms. Collins conservatively and referred her to physical therapy with Freddie Regan Chandler. Dr. Foret diagnosed an annular tear of her lumbar disc at L4-5. He noted symptoms of spasms in the back and radicular leg pain consistent with an injury to the lum[19]*19bar disc. After several months of therapy, Ms. Chandler noted that Ms. Collins was pain free following her therapy treatment on June 7, 2005. However, the next day, Ms. Collins saw Dr. Foret and reported that her back pain returned shortly after her therapy treatment. Dr. Foret also testified that on June 8, 2005, he estimated Ms. Collins could return to work in about one month, on or about July 1, 2005. He told the jury, however, that if she had to work as a manager or assistant manager at a shoe store, “that would be pretty strenuous for someone with back problems.” Nevertheless, he released her to light and sedentary work if she chose to give it a try.

Ms. Collins began to suffer additional pain. She reported increased back pain after cleaning out her car on July 12, 2005, and also noted that her pain jaincreased when she lifted and carried her baby, who was born on March 18, 2005. “If she lifts, she hurts,” according to Dr. Foret’s testimony. She continued treatment with Dr. Foret, who continued conservative care. Dr. Foret’s July 12, 2005 office note states in part, “Annular tear is causing the lower back pain.” On the July 12, 2005 visit, after noting Ms. Collins’ back pain was worse, Dr. Foret again referred Ms. Collins to physical therapy with Ms. Chandler. She continued conservative care for quite some time, during which Dr. Foret noted an up and down cycle, improvement with ■therapy followed by increased pain with activity.

When she failed to achieve lasting improvement, Dr. Foret referred Ms. Collins to Dr. Frank Lopez, a specialist in pain management, who first saw Ms. Collins on October 10, 2007. Dr. Lopez found that Ms. Collins had decreased sensations in the right hand and leg and weakness in the back musculature. Her pain level was reported as seven out of ten, and she suffered from depression. Dr. Lopez’s treatment plan was to try to manage her pain with medication.

As her symptoms continued to worsen, Ms. Collins again saw Dr. Foret, who last saw Ms. Collins on March 5, 2008, and referred her to a neurosurgeon, Dr. Gregory Rubino. While Dr. Foret did state in his notes of April of 2007, that he felt Ms. Collins could get by without surgery, he testified at trial that Ms. Collins still continued with back complaints secondary to an annular tear at L4-5. Since he no longer did back surgery, he referred her to a neurosurgeon. He stated, “... If she elects for surgery, that’s fine[.] [S]he had this back pain for a long time and leg pain and back spasms, and so most people can go just a certain amount of time before they start searching out another treatment plan, which is surgery.”

Dr. James Domingue, a neurologist, performed an independent medical examination on Ms. Collins in 2008. He indicated that he would have taken a 14more conservative approach. He did not recommend surgery for Ms. Collins at that time.

Dr. Rubino evaluated Ms. Collins in Sep-, tember of 2010, and after performing a discogram confirming a problem with the lumbar disc at L4-5, he ultimately performed lumbar disc decompression and a one level fusion on November 23, 2010. Ms. Collins claims the surgery did not fully relieve her pain, and she continued treatment with Dr. Rubino and Dr. Lopez. Dr. Lopez continues as her treating physician for pain management, especially for symptoms related to her back. However, she continues to suffer neck and shoulder pain as well. In addition, future cervical surgery remains a possibility.

Ms. Collins did not seek employment of any kind between July of 2005, and the surgical procedure by Dr. Rubino in 2010. Although, Ms. Collins may not have been [20]*20able to engage in any occupation that required heavy lifting, bending, climbing, repetitive stooping, or standing for long periods, according to her physicians, she might have been able to perform some sedentary or light duty jobs.

A review of her employment history outlined during the testimony of Jeffery Peterson, Defendants’ vocational rehabilitation expert, reflected that in the approximately ten years prior to the accident, from May 1994, when she graduated from high school, to May 2004, the time of the accident, Ms. Collins held a number of jobs which were more of a sedentary nature with different semi-skilled activities. Her various jobs included employment in two different shoe stores as both assistant manager and manager. She worked as a telephone operator, a store clerk, a cage cashier at the Isle of Capri Casino, a bank teller, a valet attendant, a security guard, and an admitting clerk at a hospital. She also worked at Lowe’s and at a mortgage company doing office administrative work.

Is At trial, Ms. Collins presented the testimony of all of her healthcare providers, Dr. Kane, Dr. Foret, Ms. Chandler, Dr. Rubino, and Dr. Lopez. Each one testified that Ms.

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Bluebook (online)
158 So. 3d 17, 13 La.App. 3 Cir. 412, 2013 WL 6926520, 2013 La. App. LEXIS 2133, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/collins-v-louisiana-state-police-lactapp-2013.