KJC Law Firm Wins Important Personal Injury Case in the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court announced today that injured people will be allowed to introduce the full charges on their medical bills as evidence of their damages at trial despite the Superior Court's ruling otherwise. The case, Law v. Griffith, was argued by Kathy Jo Cook of KJC Law Firm LLC in Boston. Professor Timothy Wilton, from Suffolk University Law School, served as a consultant on both the brief and the oral argument.
Joanne Law was injured in an automobile accident when Daniel Griffith ran a stop sign and crashed into her car. By the time of the trial, Ms. Law had received extensive medical treatment for which the providers billed Ms. Law $112,269.94. Ms. Law's medical insurance provider, Mass Health, however, had paid the providers $16,387.14 in full satisfaction of those bills. Ms. Law was not personally responsible for any further payment.
The rates MassHealth will pay for medical treatments are set by statute and are far lower than that which doctors and hospitals charge. By law, providers are not permitted to bill the patient for the balance. Although private health insurers generally pay a higher rate than the government operated MassHealth, they also usually pay less than the amount the providers bill. People without health insurance, however, are responsible for payment of the full charge.
At trial, the defendant argued that the medical bills presented "distorted" evidence of Ms. Law's damages. The trial judge ruled that Ms. Law could not introduce evidence of the amount "charged" for any of the services, but rather, could only offer evidence of the amount "paid." Ms. Law was permitted to introduce only the payments of $16,387.14 as her medical expenses, rather than the charges of $112,269.94. The jury was instructed that it could award damages for "medical and hospital bills, as proved," as well as for scarring, loss of function, impairment of enjoyment of life, and pain and suffering. The jury found for Ms. Law, but in a general verdict for all of the items, it awarded only $48,500.00.
On appeal, attorney Kathy Jo Cook argued that the statute governing the admission of medical bills as evidence of an injured party's damages for medical expenses required a trial judge to allow the admission of medical bills in the full amount charged. The Supreme Judicial Court unanimously agreed, the majority writing that the statute "states unambiguously that medical bills are admissible to establish the reasonable value of services rendered."
