§ 13-13 Damages - Pre-existing Condition

• Library: South Carolina Requests to Charge - Civil (SCBar) (2016 Ed.)

§ 13-13 Damages - Pre-Existing Condition

The fact that a person is more susceptible to injury or death because of a pre-existing condition or weakness does not serve to excuse an otherwise negligent defendant who has caused the injury, or allowed the injury or death to happen when there is a duty to act to prevent it. A negligent defendant takes his plaintiff as he finds him, whether the plaintiff be in perfect health or in poor health, or somewhere in between.

An injured person is entitled to recover all damages caused by the defendant's negligence. When plaintiff's pre-existing physical or mental condition is aggravated or activated by a subsequent act, the defendant is liable to the extent that his wrongful act proximately and naturally aggravated or activated plaintiff's pre-existing condition.

A defendant who causes injuries to a plaintiff with a pre-existing condition must take the plaintiff as he finds him. Although not responsible for the pre-existing condition itself, he is liable for any exacerbation of it caused by his tortious conduct.

The plaintiff can recover for pre-existing injuries only to the extent they were aggravated by the defendant's actions. Any portion of the injuries which was not caused by an act or omission on the part of the defendant is not compensable. You can award damages for any aggravation of a pre-existing condition, but not for the original injury itself.

If you find that the plaintiff received an injury as a result of the negligence of the defendant so that he is entitled to recover for said injuries, the fact that he had a pre-existing defect would not defeat his recovery. It is the law of this State that one who negligently inflicts a personal injury on another is responsible for all ill effects which, considering the condition of health in which the plaintiff was in when he...