Amigos Meat Distributors, L.P. v. Julian Guzman and Catherine Michele Montejano, 01-16-00149-CV

Background

Julian Guzman, a truck driver for Amigos Meat Distributors (a workers’ compensation non-subscriber), injured his lower back on May 6, 2011 lifting a 175‑lb carcass and later underwent L4‑5 discectomy and fusion in 2014.
Guzman and his wife sued Amigos; the jury found Amigos negligent and awarded Guzman $287,809.94 in past medical expenses, $150,000 for past pain and mental anguish, and $150,000 for past physical impairment.
Amigos does not contest negligence but appeals the damages, challenging (1) legal sufficiency of causation for surgery‑related medical expenses, (2) admissibility/recovery of billed medical charges given a factoring company (HMRF) purchased provider receivables, and (3) allegedly improper and incurable jury‑directed arguments by Guzman’s counsel.
Facts at trial: Guzman had no prior symptomatic back problems, experienced immediate severe pain and leg weakness after the May 6, 2011 lift, received conservative care without lasting relief, and had persistent pain until surgery; his treating surgeon testified, to a reasonable medical probability, that the workplace injury caused symptomatic problems leading to surgery.
Medical bills totaling $287,809.94 were admitted; providers had sold accounts to a factoring company (HMRF) and received only part of that amount, raising a Haygood "paid or incurred" issue about recoverable medical expenses.
The trial court admitted the full billed amounts and entered judgment; the court of appeals affirms, rejecting Amigos’s three principal appellate challenges.

Issues

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Causation for 2014 surgery (medical expenses)	Reynolds and other medical history show May 6, 2011 workplace injury (aggravating an asymptomatic preexisting condition) caused ongoing pain and the surgery.	Preexisting degenerative disc disease shown on MRIs means plaintiff failed to prove surgery was caused by the 2011 incident.	Sufficient evidence of causation: expert testimony plus plaintiff’s pre/post injury symptom history supports that the 2011 injury caused symptomatic aggravation leading to surgery.
Recoverable medical expenses where providers sold receivables to factoring company (Haygood §41.0105 issue)	Guzman remains liable for full billed amounts (assignment/receivable sale shifted provider claim to HMRF), so amounts billed are "paid or incurred" and admissible under Haygood’s framework adapted to factoring.	Only amounts actually paid to providers are recoverable; billed amounts are inflated because HMRF paid providers a discounted sum—the jury award therefore exceeds amounts "paid or incurred."	Admissible: where record shows claimant remains liable for full provider charges after factoring/assignment, billed amounts are recoverable under §41.0105; trial court did not abuse discretion admitting full bills.
Alleged improper/inflammatory jury argument (appeal to favor worker vs. corporate defendant; allegations of harassing surveillance)	Counsel’s comments were responsive to defendant’s themes, limited, and not incurably prejudicial; no reversible harm shown.	Counsel appealed to juror prejudice against corporations, made unsupported allegations (e.g., spying), and urged punitive‑sized verdicts—requiring reversal.	No incurable error: many remarks were invited or provoked by Amigos’ trial strategy; objections were made and handled; the statements were not so egregious that instruction/curative action could not have cured prejudice.

Key Cases Cited

Burroughs Wellcome Co. v. Crye, 907 S.W.2d 497 (Tex. 1995) (expert causation must be stated to a reasonable medical probability)
Guevara v. Ferrer, 247 S.W.3d 662 (Tex. 2007) (competent evidence required to establish causal link)
JLG Trucking, LLC v. Garza, 466 S.W.3d 157 (Tex. 2015) (expert testimony needed when causation is outside jurors’ common knowledge)
City of Keller v. Wilson, 168 S.W.3d 802 (Tex. 2005) (standards for legal‑sufficiency review)
Haygood v. De Escabedo, 356 S.W.3d 390 (Tex. 2011) (§41.0105 limits recovery to medical expenses "have been or must be paid by or for the claimant")
Katy Springs & Mfg. v. Favalora, 476 S.W.3d 579 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 2015) (in factoring context, billed amounts recoverable where claimant remains liable for full billed charges)
Living Centers of Tex., Inc. v. Penalver, 256 S.W.3d 678 (Tex. 2008) (discussion of incurable jury argument and harm analysis)