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Douglas v. Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority8/10/2000
Appeal from the Superior Court of the District of Columbia (Hon. Michael L. Rankin, Trial Judge)
Argued March 16, 1999
This negligence action arises from a collision between two buses owned and operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority ("WMATA"). Appellant Dorothy Douglas, a passenger on one of the buses, claimed that the accident caused her to develop cervical disc syndrome in her neck, which eventually required surgery. She filed suit against WMATA in the Superior Court, seeking $500,000 in compensatory damages for medical expenses and pain and suffering, plus costs and interest. The jury found in her favor, but awarded her only $1,461.57 in damages. On appeal, Ms. Douglas challenges the trial court's denial of her pre-trial motion in limine, which sought to exclude evidence of prior injuries, and her post-trial motion for a new trial on damages. Finding no error, we affirm.
I.
A. Factual Background
On June 5, 1992, a WMATA bus in which Ms. Douglas was a passenger was making a left turn out of a parking lot on Minnesota Avenue, N.E., when it was hit from behind by another WMATA bus. The impact caused Ms. Douglas to be jerked forward and backward and threw her three-year-old son completely out of his seat. Ms. Douglas testified that it got "black all of a sudden" and that immediately after the accident she felt pain "shooting all up neck . . . ."
Ms. Douglas was placed in a neck brace and taken by ambulance to Greater Southeast Community Hospital. After an initial examination, she was diagnosed with an acute cervical strain and an acute right shoulder strain. Ms. Douglas was subsequently treated by Dr. Christopher Magee, an orthopedic surgeon, who in turn referred her to Dr. Herbert Joseph for further treatment, including physical therapy. In September 1992 Dr. Magee released Ms. Douglas from his care. Although she was still complaining of pain and stiffness in her neck and tingling and numbness in her hand, Dr. Magee concluded that Ms. Douglas "appear to have reached maximum medical improvement with regard to her neck injury."
But the pain and stiffness in Ms. Douglas' neck did not go away. By February 1993 it had become so severe that she was having difficulty sleeping. In search of relief, she went to see Dr. Rida Azer, another orthopedic surgeon. Dr. Azer detected tenderness over the fifth, sixth, and seventh vertebrae in Ms. Douglas' neck, noted that she had a limited range of motion in her neck, and observed that she was experiencing muscle spasms. He diagnosed her condition as cervical disc syndrome with associated shoulder pain. After a second course of physical therapy failed to bring any improvement, Dr. Azer referred Ms. Douglas to a neurosurgeon, Dr. Earl Mills, who recommended that Ms. Douglas undergo a discectomy to remove two of the discs in her neck.
On December 8, 1994, Dr. Mills operated on Ms. Douglas' neck, while Dr. Azer removed pieces of bone from her hip and used them to replace the now-missing discs. Ms. Douglas remained under sedation for three to four days following the surgery and could not leave the hospital until a few days before Christmas. After her release, she was confined to bed at home for more than four months, had to wear a metal brace around her neck until the bones knit, and was unable to bathe herself or perform basic housekeeping and child-rearing tasks. From late December 1994 through April 1995 she had to hire a private care service for assistance in her home. She underwent extensive physical therapy and even had to relearn how to walk. Dr. Azer testified that Ms. Douglas would be permanently restricted from engaging in certain activities bec
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