Warner v. Pence
Warner v. Pence
Opinion of the Court
Action to recover damages alleged to have resulted from negligence in the treatment of the plaintiff’s injured arm. This is an appeal from a judgment for the plaintiff for $5,091.60, and from an order denying a motion for a new trial. The facts necessary to be slated are as follows :
On the nth of May, 1920, the plaintiff was kicked on his left arm by a horse. , He resided in the country a distance of several miles from Minot, to which place he went for treatment on the same day and soon after the injury was sustained. He consulted the defendant, Dr. J. R. Pence, a physician and surgeon residing in the city of Minot. The
It is contended that the evidence is insufficient to support the verdict. This contention is based largely upon what the appellants claim is a clear inconsistency between certain evidence of a highly probative character and certain other evidence of lesser value. It is asserted by the plaintiff and witnesses who testify in his behalf that at the time he consulted the physicians originally there was a large lump on his arm in such a position as to indicate that the elbow joint was injured. There is likewise evidence interpreting certain X-ray plates or pictures which were made soon after the injury to the effect that a break near the lower end of the humerus or the arm bone is indicated. There is also an X-ray picture
There is considerable evidence in the record tending circumstantially tc- establish the existence of a dislocation at the elbow at the time the plaintiff originally consulted the physicians. And the strongly contrary showing afforded by the X-ray pictures, taken soon after the injury was sustained, is somewhat weakened by the explanations or interpretations of them. These demonstrate that the apparently conclusive effect of the pictures is more or less deceptive, owing to the different effects produced by taking such pictures from different angles. In addition to this, the fact that the plaintiff’s elbow was stiff when the plaster cast was permanently removed tends to support the contention that an injury to the elbow had remained without proper treatment until that time. We think this statement warranted, though a normal elbow joint might become stiffened by being kept in a cast for a period. The testimony is conflicting as to whether or not the joint had been flexed at intervals following the operation. If it had been property flexed at intervals, it is improbable that it would have become as rigid as it was at the time the cast was permanently removed. It is certain that the dislocation existed in September; and, while the defendants undertake to account for it on the theory of a fresh injury, the plaintiff’s testimony, for which we find con
The appellant argues that the verdict is so excessive as to indicate that the jury was actuated by passion and prejudice. The evidence shows that the injury is permanent in character; that the plaintiff had, up to the time of the trial, been subject to considerable expense on account of the physical impairment resulting; that he will not be able to continue efficiently to perform the character of physical labor which he had been accustomed to performing; that in.order to repair his injury as best he can it will be necessary for him to submit to an operation for the removal of a portion of the bone at the elbow joint, at a cost of approximately $600, and which will require for treatment a period of approximately four to eight months’ time, after which his arm will continue to be considerably weakened permanently. In view of these circumstances we think the verdict is not so large as to indicate passion or prejudice on the part of the jury. The order denying the motion for a new trial and the judgment appealed from are affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.