Walters v. Hitchcock

The opinion of the court was delivered by

McFarland, J.:

This is a medical malpractice action wherein plaintiff Lillian K. Walters received a $2,000,000 damage award against defendant C. Thomas Hitchcock, M.D. The defendant physician appeals from the jury’s verdict and certain pretrial and post-trial rulings of the district court.

The facts may be summarized as follows. In December, 1979, a lump on the neck of Lillian Walters was discovered by her family physician. Mrs. Walters was, at the time, approximately 32 years of age, married, with four minor children. She was not employed outside the…