Medlin v. Hazlehurst Emergency Physicians

889 So. 2d 496, 2004 WL 2110584
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedSeptember 23, 2004
Docket2003-CA-00019-SCT
StatusPublished
Cited by24 cases

This text of 889 So. 2d 496 (Medlin v. Hazlehurst Emergency Physicians) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Mississippi Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Medlin v. Hazlehurst Emergency Physicians, 889 So. 2d 496, 2004 WL 2110584 (Mich. 2004).

Opinion

889 So.2d 496 (2005)

Robin MEDLIN
v.
HAZLEHURST EMERGENCY PHYSICIANS, EMCARE of Mississippi, Inc. a/k/a EMCARE, Inc., Willard Speed, Jr., M.D., Copiah Medical Associates, Brian Twedt, M.D., Philip Cranston, M.D., and Robert L. Walker, M.D.

No. 2003-CA-00019-SCT.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

September 23, 2004.
Rehearing Denied January 13, 2005.

Brent E. Southern, Ridgeland, attorney for appellant.

Mark P. Caraway, Walter T. Johnson, Aubrey Bryan Smith, III, Stuart Bragg Harmon, Jan F. Gadow, Robert S. Addison, John Alfred Waits, Jeffrey Ryan Baker, Jackson, attorneys for appellees.

EN BANC.

*497 ON MOTIONS FOR REHEARING

DICKINSON, Justice, for the Court.

¶ 1. The four motions for rehearing are granted. The prior opinion is withdrawn, and this opinion is substituted therefor.

¶ 2. This is a case of two lawsuits seeking recovery of the same damages. The first suit resulted in a jury verdict, the full amount of which had previously been paid by two defendants who settled prior to trial. Because the plaintiff had already been paid the full amount awarded by the jury, the second suit resulted in a summary judgment for all defendants. The matter is now before us — not for a determination of whether the defendants may be liable — but for a determination of whether (even if they are) there is anything left for the plaintiff to recover.

The first suit

¶ 3. On May 12, 1999, Robin Medlin was driving north on I-55 near Crystal Springs when her car was sandwiched between a tractor lawn mower and an eighteen-wheeler tractor-trailer rig. On July 28, 1999, Medlin filed suit against the driver of the eighteen-wheeler, Michael Walls, and his employer, D & M Trucking, and against the driver of the mower, Adrian Gonzales, and his employer, Clancy's Lawn Care and Landscaping, Inc. In her complaint, Medlin alleged that the negligence of the two individual defendants was the proximate cause of the accident. The complaint further alleged:

All of the injuries, past, present and future pain and suffering, disabilities, expenses and other losses and damages, including lost wages and loss of wage earning capacity, were directly and proximately caused by the aforementioned actions of the Defendant, Gonzales....
By reason of and as a direct and approximate (sic) result of the actions of the Defendant, Walls, the Plaintiff Medlin... sustained multiple injuries including bruises, contusions and abrasions over her body; broken bones and other internal injuries; and trauma resulting in her being rendered unconscious. All of these injuries resulted in excruciating physical and mental pain and anguish, physical and mental stress and discomfort. The plaintiff's injuries as described are permanent in nature and caused her to incur substantial expenses for doctor's bills, hospital bills, medical treatment and other necessary medical expenses, and she will continue to incur such expenses and costs in the future.
All of the injuries, past, present and future pain and suffering, disabilities, expenses and other losses and damages, including lost wages and loss of wage earning capacity, were directly and proximately caused by the aforementioned actions of the Defendant Walls....

¶ 4. On August 6, 1999, after her release from the hospital, Medlin learned that her right thumb had been fractured in the accident. On November 11, 1999, she learned that she had suffered a fractured vertebrae.

¶ 5. On August 29, 2001, just prior to the beginning of trial, Medlin settled with Gonzales and Clancy's Lawn Care for $300,000. She proceeded to trial against Walls and D & M Trucking which resulted in the following special jury verdict:

1. What is the total amount of damages incurred by the plaintiff, Robin Medlin, as a result of the accident in question? $300,000.00.
2. Do you find from a preponderance of the evidence that the defendants, Michael Walls and D & M Trucking Company, were guilty of any negligence *498 which was a proximate contributing cause of the plaintiff's damages?
yes X no

¶ 6. The jury was not asked to, nor did they, attribute fault to any other party. There was no assertion that Medlin's damages were caused by the actions or inactions of the treating physicians or hospital. Punitive damages were not considered by the jury.

¶ 7. Thus, on August 29, 2001, a jury determined that the total amount of damages suffered by Medlin as a result of the accident was $300,000.00. There is no dispute that Medlin received that full amount from Gonzales and Clancy's Lawn Care in settlement of Medlin's claim against them for damages sustained in the accident. We must now travel back two years prior to the trial, to the day of the accident.

The second suit

¶ 8. Following the accident, Medlin was transported to the emergency room at Hardy Wilson Memorial Hospital (the "Hospital") in Hazlehurst. Dr. Willard Speed, Jr., saw her in the emergency room and ordered x-rays, which were interpreted by Dr. Brian Twedt and Dr. Philip Cranston. Medlin was later admitted to the hospital and transferred to Dr. Robert L. Walker's care.

¶ 9. After Medlin was discharged on May 17, 1999, she continued to have pain and discomfort in her neck, back, shoulders, and arms. She consulted other physicians who informed her that she had fractures in her neck, arm, and thumb. Two years later, claiming the doctors at the hospital had not properly treated her, Medlin filed this medical malpractice suit against the Hospital, Hazlehurst Emergency Physicians ("Physicians"), Emcare of Mississippi, Inc. ("Emcare"), Drs. Speed, Walker, Twedt, Cranston, and Copiah Medical Associates ("Copiah"). Medlin alleged that the defendants were negligent in their diagnosis, treatment and care of her for injuries she received in the automobile accident.

¶ 10. Three months following the initiation of the medical malpractice (second) suit, the first suit was tried, which returns us to August 29, 2001, when the jury determined that the total amount of damages suffered by Medlin as a result of the accident was $300,000.00.

ANALYSIS

¶ 11. On direct appeal Medlin contends that the trial court erred in granting summary judgment against her based upon the doctrine of accord and satisfaction. Various defendants cross-appeal, claiming the trial court should have granted summary judgment on additional grounds.

¶ 12. In granting summary judgment to the defendants, the trial court held "that the plaintiff's claims are barred by the doctrine of satisfaction and accord (sic)." Medlin challenges this basis for summary judgment, claiming that "it was error to grant summary judgment based on the grounds of `accord and satisfaction.'" Medlin correctly points out that

The four elements of a valid accord and satisfaction under Mississippi Law are:
(1) Something of value offered in full satisfaction of a demand;
(2) accompanied by acts and declarations as amount to a condition that if the thing offered is accepted, it is accepted in satisfaction;
(3) the party offered the thing of value is bound to understand that if he takes it, he takes subject to such conditions; and
(4) The party actually does accept the item.

*499 Royer Homes of Miss., Inc. v. Chandeleur Homes, Inc., 857 So.2d 748, 754 (Miss.2003); Wallace v. United Miss. Bank,

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
889 So. 2d 496, 2004 WL 2110584, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/medlin-v-hazlehurst-emergency-physicians-miss-2004.