Armstrong v. Paoli Memorial Hospital

633 A.2d 605 (1993)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

P was dressing her young son for a birthday party when she received a call from D informing her that her husband had been in an accident and asking her to come to the hospital. P met with a neurosurgeon and examined X-rays of a man with a crushed cranium. She was not allowed to see the patient. After about an hour, P's sister saw the accident victim's driver's license. The accident victim was not Thomas J. Armstrong, but Thomas H. Armstrong. When P heard the injured man was not her husband, she lost total control and urinated and defecated. P now suffers from depression, nightmares, insomnia, and unreasonable fears about the safety and whereabouts of her husband and son for which she has undergone psychological counseling. P sued alleging negligent infliction of emotional distress, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and asking for compensatory and punitive damages. Only the question of negligent infliction of emotional distress went to the jury. The jury awarded $1,000. In response to post-trial motions, the trial court entered a single order granting a new trial as to damages, calling a verdict of $ 1,000 'inadequate, indeed supremely embarrassing,' and denying the hospital a j.n.o.v. D appealed.