Sally Qualls Mercer, et al., v. Vanderbilt University, Inc., et al.

This appeal involves a medical malpractice case arising out of the emergency treatment of an intoxicated driver who sustained catastrophic injuries in a single-vehicle accident. The driver's conservator filed suit in the Circuit Court for Davidson County alleging that the negligence of the driver's healthcare providers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center caused him to suffer irreversible brain injury that left him in a persistent vegetative state. A jury returned a verdict for the driver, assessing his damages at $7,366,000 and allocating seventy percent of the fault to Vanderbilt and thirty percent of the fault to the driver. Thereafter, the trial court determined as a matter of law that the driver's damages had been caused by a separate injury for which Vanderbilt was entirely responsible. Accordingly, the trial court set aside the jury's allocation of fault and entered a judgment holding Vanderbilt one hundred percent at fault for the entire amount of the driver's damages. We have determined that the judgment must be vacated and that Vanderbilt is entitled to a new trial because of the cumulative effect of the trial court's errors in excluding the testimony of three of Vanderbilt's witnesses as well as evidence of the driver's alcohol-related conduct.