Opinion
No. 82-1697.
April 17, 1984. Rehearing Denied May 30, 1984.
Appeal from the Circuit Court, Dade County, Rhea Pincus Grossman, J.
Joe N. Unger, Miami, and Jay Dermer, Miami Beach, for appellants.
Kelner Kelner and Milton Kelner, Pyszka Kessler, Greene Cooper and Robyn Greene and Joan M. Bolotin, Miami, for appellees.
Before HUBBART, NESBITT and JORGENSON, JJ.
Plaintiff brought an action against Surfside Pharmacy and Mt. Sinai Hospital on a theory that defendants' negligent acts aggravated a preexisting mental condition. The trial court disallowed the testimony of the plaintiff's two expert physicians and ultimately directed a verdict in favor of the defendants. We affirm.
The only expert testimony presented by the plaintiff to establish that the defendants' acts caused an aggravation of the plaintiff's preexisting condition was that of Drs. Shellow and Gilbert.
As to Dr. Shellow, we find that: (1) the hypothetical question by which the causal relationship and aggravation of a psychiatric disorder were to be established failed to identify the preexisting condition and thus any testimony based on it was properly excluded; see Steiger v. Massachusetts Casualty Insurance Co., 273 So.2d 4 (Fla. 3d DCA 1973) (the nature of the plaintiff's psychiatric condition at the time of the accident was a necessary element in a hypothetic question which purported to state a medical history of the plaintiff); (2) direct and cross-examination of the expert revealed that he had no knowledge of the plaintiff's preexisting condition from which he could form an opinion of its aggravation; Caputo v. Taylor, 403 So.2d 551 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981), pet. for review denied, 412 So.2d 464 (Fla. 1982); see also Husky Industries, Inc. v. Black, 434 So.2d 988 (Fla. 4th DCA 1983); Tarkoff v. Schmunk, 117 So.2d 442 (Fla. 2d DCA 1959); and (3) his opinion amounted to little more than a guess. Husky Industries, Inc.
When testifying as to the plaintiff's prior condition, Dr. Shellow stated:
What I am saying is that she had some kind of a condition, I do not know what that condition is.
Turning to Dr. Gilbert, we conclude, as we did with respect to Dr. Shellow, that he had no knowledge of the preexisting condition from which he could form an opinion. See Caputo; Husky Industries, Inc.
In response to the question: "You do not know how Kim was before these episodes, do you?", Dr. Gilbert testified, "No, I do not."
The only two experts presented by the plaintiff to establish that the incidents in question caused an aggravation of her preexisting condition were unable to do so. Thus, we conclude that the directed verdict was properly entered. Caputo, 403 So.2d at 554.
Affirmed.