CACI 3927 Aggravation of Preexisting Condition or Disability
California Civil Jury Instructions CACI
3927 Aggravation of Preexisting Condition or Disability
[Name of plaintiff] is not entitled to damages for any physical or emotional condition that [he/she/nonbinary pronoun] had before [name of defendant]’s conduct occurred. However, if [name of plaintiff] had a physical or emotional condition that was made worse by [name of defendant]’s wrongful conduct, you must award damages that will reasonably and fairly compensate [him/her/nonbinary pronoun] for the effect on that condition.
Sources and Authority
•“[A] tortfeasor may be held liable in an action for damages where the effect of his negligence is to aggravate a preexisting condition or disease. Plaintiff may recover to the full extent that his condition has worsened as a result of defendant’s tortious act.” (Sanchez v. Kern Emergency Medical Transportation Corp. (2017) 8 Cal.App.5th 146, 168 [213 Cal.Rptr.3d 830].)
•“It is by no means self-evident that an act which precipitates a flare-up of a preexisting condition should be considered a ‘cause which, in natural and continuous sequence, produces the injury.’ Thus, general instructions on proximate cause were not sufficient to inform the jury on the more specific issue of aggravation of preexisting conditions.” (Ng v. Hudson (1977) 75 Cal.App.3d 250, 256 [142 Cal.Rptr. 69], internal citations omitted, overruled on another ground in Soule v. General Motors Corp. (1994) 8 Cal.4th 548, 574 [34 Cal.Rptr.2d 607, 882 P.2d 298].)
•“[An instruction on preexisting condition] is proper only where the injured is the claimant seeking compensation for his injuries. That is not the case here in a wrongful death action.” (Vecchione v. Carlin (1980) 111 Cal.App.3d 351, 358 [168 Cal.Rptr. 571].)