Court of Appeals of Texas, Dallas.
UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS SYSTEM, Appellant,
v.
Patricia W. ALLAN, Appellee.
No. 05-91-00939-CV.
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June 30, 1992.
Before ENOCH, C.J., and CARVER1 and BISSETT2, JJ.
O P I N I O N
CARVER, Justice.
*1 The University of Texas System appeals from a jury verdict and judgment in favor of Patricia W. Allan for workers’ compensation benefits from an occupational disease. We sustain the University’s first point asserting that there is no evidence or factually insufficient evidence to support the jury’s award of $24,000 for reasonable and necessary medical expenses. The judgment of the trial court is reversed, and the cause is remanded for disposition.
A workers’ compensation claimant may recover the cost of medical bills upon a showing that they were reasonable and were made necessary by the effects naturally resulting from the injuries incurred during the course of employment. International Ins. Co. v. Hernandez, 659 S.W.2d 922, 925 (Tex. App.-Corpus Christi 1983, no writ) (emphasis added). Medical expenses may be proven with a physician’s testimony that the charges are usual and customary for similar services in that community and that the services are medically necessary in the treatment of the claimant for the injury sustained. Texas Employers Ins. Ass’n v. Campes, 666 S.W.2d 286, 290 (Tex. App.-Houston [14th Dist.] 1984, no writ). Allan offered her own opinion as to the reasonableness and the necessity for the medical expenses, but she is not qualified to express such opinion. See Garland Food Fair, Inc. v. Hare, 611 S.W.2d 113, 117 (Tex. App.-Houston [1st Dist.] 1980, writ ref’d n.r.e.). Moreover, Allan testified that she had medical expenses of $11,570, not $24,000 as found by the jury. Allan also offered business records from various health care providers showing various charges which were admitted into evidence. However, she failed to distinguish whether these records reflect additional charges or merely substantiate parts of the total medical expenses described in her own testimony. Nothing in the record supports the jury’s finding of $24,000 or the judgment entered thereon. We sustain the University’s first point of error.
The additional complaints of the University do not appear likely to recur upon another trial and will not be addressed.
The trial court’s judgment in favor of Allan is reversed and remanded for disposition with all costs in the trial court and in this Court assessed to Allan.
Do Not Publish
Tex. R. App. P. 90
Footnotes |
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1 |
The Honorable Spencer Carver, Justice, Court of Appeals, Fifth District of Texas, Retired, sitting by assignment. |
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2 |
The Honorable Gerald T.Bissett, Justice, Court of Appeals, Thirteenth District of Texas at Corpus Christi, Retired, sitting by assignment. |
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