Lyons v. Walker Reg'l Med. Ctr

In Lyons v. Walker Reg'l Med. Ctr., 868 So. 2d 1071 (Ala. 2003), the Supreme Court of Alabama held that, in a claim for medical malpractice, the trial court did not err in "charging the jury on . . . assumption of the risk over the appellant's objection" where the patient had refused all treatment for his condition, even though he was warned of the serious consequences that could arise. Id. at 1085. The Court held: The jury, in applying the court's charge on contributory negligence and assumption of risk to all of the testimony, could have concluded that the patient, with knowledge of the seriousness of his sickness and with the appreciation that it posed significant danger, including death, failed to exercise care for his own safety, by putting himself in the way of the danger about which he was warned, including death. Id. at 1088.