I think this is a very sad decision. It's definitely not too high when you take into account lost wages, attorney's fees, and medical costs that he will have in the future...and then add to that pain and suffering. Just goes to show how little people understand what those of us with this nasty condition have to go through on a daily basis and how much it changes our lives.

But I have been told that this tends to be the tendency of judges in the current economy...they don't want to hurt big corporations because then there will be less jobs (or some such nonsense like that). If that's the motivation behind these decisions to throw out higher awards, then it is just plain wrong. This judge doesn't say what he thinks an appropriate award amount would be...just that he thinks this is just too high. That's ridiculous. And despite that the defense SAYS it is from a pre-existing injury, the judge did not rule in their favor because he still thinks the injury should be compensated and they will only be looking at the award amount in the new trial. So all he is saying is that the amount is too high. I certainly don't think so and I hope that the man with RSD gets another high award amount the second time around and is not forced to go through endless court battles and appeals.

My personal thought behind this is-if it was not from a previous injury then he should be entitled to his wages till retirment plus a percentage for raises. All medical expenses in relation to the disease. If it was not caused by this injury, then you can only rule on that injury. That is what I would want and I feel that is only fair.