Page:Montgomery Ward & Co. v. Anderson.pdf/2

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1. DAMAGES—COLLATERAL-SOURCE RULE—EXCEPTIONS DID NOT APPLY.—The collateral-source rule does not apply in cases in which a collateral source of recovery may be introduced (1) to rebut the plaintiffs testimony that he or she was compelled by financial necessity to return to work prematurely or to forego additional med.ical care; (2) to show that the plaintiff had attributed his condition to some other cause, such as sickness; (3) to impeach the plaintiffs tes.timony that he or she had paid his medical expenses himself; and (4) to show that the plaintiff had actually continued to work instead of being out of work, as claimed; evidence of collateral sources is also allowed when the plaintiff opens the door to his or her financial condition; the trial court correctly ruled that none of the exceptions applied to the facts at hand.
2. DAMAGES—COLLATERAL-SOURCE RULE—TORTFEASOR'S RESPONSIBILITY.—The general rule concerning collateral-source recovery is that payments made to or benefits conferred on the injured party from other sources are not credited against the tortfeasor's liability, although they cover all or a part of the harm for which the tortfeasor is liable; another way to state the rule is to say that it is the tortfeasor's responsibility to compensate for all harm that he or she causes, not confined to the net loss that the injured party receives.
3. DAMAGES—COLLATERAL-SOURCE RULE—GRATUITOUS OR DISCOUNTED MEDICAL SERVICES ARE NOT TO BE CONSIDERED IN ASSESSING PERSONAL-INJURY PLAINTIFF'S DAMAGES—TRIAL COURT DID NOT ERR IN EXCLUDING EVIDENCE OF MEDICAL-SERVICES DISCOUNT.—The supreme court adopted the rule that gratuitous or discounted medical services are a collateral source not to be considered in assessing the damages due a personal-injury plaintiff, noting that the rule is consistent with the policy of allowing the innocent plaintiff, instead of the tortfeasor defendant, to receive any windfall associated with the cause of action; the court held that the trial court did not err by excluding evidence of the medical-services discount as a collateral source.

Appeal from Stone Circuit Court; John Dan Kemp, Judge; affirmed.

Wright, Lindsey & Jennings LLP, by: Jay Moody, for appellant.

Hively & Ketz, by: Vickie A. Warner, for appellees.

DAVID NEWBERN, Justice. This is a tort case in which the issue concerns application of the collateral-source rule. The Trial