This is a medical negligence case filed by Plaintiff Tanya Soule, as holder of Power of Attorney for Marlene Do, her mother, a currently disabled adult, and Long Do, her husband. Specifically, Plaintiffs alleged that Defendants were negligent in failing to timely diagnose and manage Marelene’s ischemic stroke on December 11, 2019.
Subsequently, Defendants Blessing Hospital; Scott Hough, M.D.; Shaila O’Dear, R.N.; Jason Little, APRN; Kristin Hampton, R.N.; Angelo Liana, M.D.; and Rebecca Dennison, R.N. filed a motion to exclude all but the present value of future life care opinion testimony of Plaintiffs’ expert witness on economics, Stan Smith, PhD.
Economics Expert Witness
Stan V. Smith, PhD is the President of Smith Economics Group, Ltd., headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, which provides economic and financial consulting nationwide.
Moreover, Smith has worked as an economic and financial consultant since 1974. He has performed economic analysis in a variety of cases, including personal injury and wrongful death actions. Smith has over 40 years of experience in the field of economics and wrote the first textbook on Forensic Economic Damages.
Discussion by the Court
Defendants sought to bar Smith from providing testimony at trial regarding purported loss of household/ family services sustained by Long Do, hedonic damages sustained by Marlene, and loss of society or relationship sustained by Long. Specifically, Defendants contend all of these opinions are based on methodologies that are unreliable and are not supported by facts specific to Marlene.
Loss of Household/Family Services
With respect to household/family services, Smith’s opinions included two subcategories alleged to be sustained by Long Do: (a) loss of housekeeping and household management services; and (b) loss of advice, counsel, guidance, instruction, and training services. Defendants argued that these damages are speculative and would not assist the jury.
For example, regarding loss of housekeeping and household management services, Smith opined that Long suffered a loss in the amount of $378,775. Essentially, Smith multiplied the amount of time it would take a non-professional to complete a particular task by the costs it would take to hire a professional.
In addition, Smith included a 50% non-wage component to the hourly wage rate. However, he acknowledged that Marlene was not a professional of any trade upon which he relied. Furthermore, he did not ask Marlene or Long whether they paid for any of the services considered. Smith admitted the calculation is his “estimate of the market value of the services performed by a female in the household on average.”
To illustrate, Smith created three tables to show his calculations for past and future loss of housekeeping and household management services. He then created a similar calculation to opine on the monetary loss of advice, counsel, guidance, instruction, and training services for Long.
Specifically, Smith assumed a loss of one hour per day for these advisory services based solely on his interview with Marlene’s daughter.
On the other hand, Plaintiffs noted that loss of household services is a compensable form of injury. They alleged that Smith’s testimony involves the loss of household services sustained by the family from the time of Defendants’ alleged negligence through Marlene’s life expectancy.
Conclusion
The Court allowed Smith’s testimony regarding the loss of housekeeping and household management services while excluding his testimony concerning the loss of advice, counsel, guidance, institution, and training services.
C. Hedonic Damages
Smith opined on the reduction in value of life or loss of enjoyment of life for Marlene. Plaintiffs claimed that the hedonic value of life refers to the value of the pleasure, the satisfaction, or the utility that human beings derive from life, separate and apart from the labor or earnings of life.
In his report, Smith stated that his “estimate of the value of life is consistent with estimates published in other studies that examine and review the broad range of economic literature on the value of life.”
Smith estimated the value of life “to be approximately $5.9 million in year 2023 dollars.” Defendants noted that Smith only interviewed Marlene’s daughter. He did not interview Marlene or Long.
Smith provided a “lower estimated impairment rating” and an “upper estimated impairment rating,” based on his range for either 50% or 80% reduction in value of life. Pursuant to his methodology, Smith estimated a total loss of value of life of $1,954,626 for 50% reduction and a total of $3,127,391 for 80% reduction. To determine future loss, Smith accounted for a discount factor to create a present value. He then arrived at the value of hedonic damages by reducing the $5.9 million by the percentage of disability he believes Marlene has suffered-either 50% or 80%. Defendants noted that Smith did not consult with a single medical professional to arrive at his impairment rating.
Conclusion
Defendants alleged that federal and state courts have routinely barred Smith’s testimony as to hedonic damages.
After considering Smith’s testimony on hedonic damages, the Court agreed with the reasoning of the overwhelming majority of federal district courts. Therefore, the Court granted Defendants’ motion to the extent it sought exclusion of Smith’s testimony on hedonic damages.
Loss of Society or Relationship for Long Do
To begin with, Smith presented his opinions on loss of society or relationship relating to Long Do. In particular, Plaintiffs noted that Illinois law recognizes loss of society or relationship as a recoverable pecuniary loss. In other words, this is the total value of loss of society or relationship Long did and will suffer due to Marlene’s alleged injuries. Specifically, Smith testified that the loss is “the loss of love and affection that he has sustained, the loss of the quality of the relationship that he had that has impacted his quality of life.”
Defendants noted that Smith calculated loss of society in the same manner as his calculation for reduction in value/hedonic damages for Marlene. This loss is calculated from 2019 through 2030, which ends at Long’s estimated life span of 81 years old. Smith picked $5.9 million as the value of each human life in 2023 dollars. He then arrived at the value of hedonic damages by reducing the $5.9 million by the percentage of disability he believes Marlene has suffered. For loss of society, Smith chose 50% disability. He determined Long’s loss of society was $403,273. For future loss, Smith accounts for a discount factor to create a present value.
Conclusion
As Defendants alleged, the jury is capable of processing that information to calculate damages guided by their observations, experience, and sense of fairness. The Court held that Smith’s opinions on this topic are speculative and potentially misleading in focusing on the statistically average person instead of the individuals in this case.
Held
The Court granted in part and denied in part the Defendants’ motion to exclude the opinions of Plaintiffs’ economic expert Stan Smith, Ph.D.
Key Takeaway:
Rule 702 requires a flexible inquiry and recognizes that the accuracy of proposed expert testimony can be explored adequately via the normal adversarial process of “vigorous cross-examination, presentation of contrary evidence, and careful instruction on the burden of proof.”
It is “the soundness and care with which the expert arrived at her opinion” that is the focus of the inquiry and not “the ultimate correctness of the expert’s conclusions.”
Case Details:
| Case Caption: | Do Et Al V. Blessing Hospital, A Corporation Et Al |
| Docket Number: | 1:20cv1398 |
| Court Name: | United States District Court, Illinois Central |
| Order Date: | September 23, 2025 |
