Many of the dental nerve injuries which our Georgia clients suffer from are permanent. At trial, Plaintiff is qualified to testify that she does not foresee her pain and impairment ever resolving. In other words, that she does believes that her injury is permanent and is asking the jury to award damages to compensate her for the permanent injury caused by the dental malpractice.
Legal support for this is found in many prior Georgia cases., such as the following Georgia appellate court decision: Stephen W. Brown Radiology Associates v. Gowers, 278 S.E.2d 653, 157 Ga.App. 770 (Ga. App., 1981).
The court did not err in charging on pain and suffering, future medical expenses, and elements of pain and suffering such as “deformity or unnatural condition.” Nor did the court err in charging the age-old expression that the jury was authorized to accept plaintiff’s own testimony regarding his injuries and suffering in preference to the evidence of a whole college of physicians.” See Great A. & P. Tea Co. v. Dupee, 71 Ga.App. 148(2), 153, 30 S.E.2d 365; Southern R. Co. v. Petway, 7 Ga.App. 659(1), 67 S.E. 886; Southern R. Co. v. Tankersley, 3 Ga.App. 548, 60 S.E. 297; Wolfson v. Rumble, 121 Ga.App. 549(2), 174 S.E.2d 469.
As stated more eloquently in an earlier case:
City of Atlanta v. Champe Et Ux, 66 Ga. 659 (Ga., 1881)
“Whilst, with equal opportunities of judging, the testimony of an expert should be preferred to that of one unskilled in a profession or trade, it is not the rule, nor is it common sense, where the opportunities to know are all with the unlearned. In this case, the plaintiff knew whether she suffered from her womb after this accident and not before better than any doctor could, and if entitled to credit and believed by the jury, her knowledge would, and ought to, outweigh the opinion of a whole college of physicians, “because theirs is at last opinion “mere opinion” founded it is true upon argument and expert argument and experience, but all based at last on the facts the patient discloses by her appearance and the information she gives of internal pain not visible to the eye.”
As can be gleaned from the above case (even though they are old cases, they are still “good law” and should be followed by the trial court), the law presumes that the plaintiff is in as good of a position, if not a better position, than any hired expert to render an opinion about the extent of, and permanency of, the impairment she is complaining of in the lawsuit.
Attorney Robert J. Fleming has been handling wrongful death cases, automobile accident cases, personal injury cases, dental malpractice and medical malpractice lawsuits for individuals and families who have been harmed, injured or died as a result of the carelessness or negligence of another for more than 20 years in and around Atlanta, Georgia and its surrounding areas, including Alpharetta, Austell, Avondale Estates, Chamblee, College Park, Conyers, Duluth, Decatur, Doraville, Hapeville, Johns Creek, Jonesboro, Lawrenceville, Norcross, Peachtree City, Riverdale, Roswell, Sandy Springs, Stone Mountain, and Smyrna. If you have been seriously injured and would like quality legal representation, contact Robert J. Fleming directly on (404) 525-5150 or contact us online.