Page 35 - FDCC Insights Spring 2022

· Did you discuss your injuries and the treatment with your primary care physician?
· Did you have a discussion on what the treatment would cost and how it would be paid?
· Why didn’t you use your health insurance or Medicare?
· What do you currently owe in medical expenses?
· If you do not recover in this lawsuit, how will the bills be paid?
· Did you go back to the surgeon and tell him or her that the procedure didn’t help?
In New Jersey, under our Court Rule 1:8-8(d), in the court’s discretion, jurors can ask questions of witnesses in writing that are vetted by the judge as to permissibility. I had a juror ask a treating doctor why plaintiff didn’t get better after all his treatment. That case then settled. We in claims know why plaintiffs don’t seem to get better, but jurors live in a wider and perhaps a less cynical reality. It is our job to call their attention to what they find obvious.
Floyd G. Cottrell is an FDCC Defense Counsel Member. He is the founding partner of Cottrell Law Group in New York City, NY. Contact him at: fcottrell@cs-njnylawfirm.com.
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