Weborg v. Jenny, 2012 WI 67

This is a Wisconsin medical malpractice case reviewing an unpublished court of appeals decision against three physicians following William Weborg's death from severe coronary disease.
Plaintiffs alleged negligence by Dr. Jenny, Dr. Borgnes, and Dr. Rebhan in William's care and treatment in 2004; damages were later stipulated at $1,000,000 if liability found.
During trial, evidence of Theresa Weborg's collateral sources—over $1.4 million in life insurance and $3,300 monthly Social Security benefits—was admitted over objection under Wis. Stat. § 893.55(7).
The circuit court granted a in limine motion allowing collateral source evidence; the jury ultimately found no negligence by any physician.
The court of appeals assumed error on collateral source evidence and on the modified jury instruction on expert testimony, but held any errors were harmless and affirmed the judgments.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court granted review and affirmed the court of appeals, holding collateral source evidence admissible only if relevant and that errors were harmless, and also addressing the jury instruction modification.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Collateral source admissibility for damages evidence	Weborgs argue evidence was irrelevant to damages and should be barred.	Physicians argue § 893.55(7) makes collateral source evidence admissible to determine damages.	Admissibility requires relevance; court erred by admitting without relevance evaluation.
Harmless error standard for collateral source evidence	Admission affected substantial rights and could influence liability findings.	Error was harmless given trial context and damages were not contested at trial.	Harmless error; did not affect substantial rights.
Modification of Wis JI—Civil 260 on expert testimony	Modification created inconsistency and misled about binding nature of expert opinions.	Modification aligns 260 with 1023 and clarifies standard of care must be inferred from expert testimony.	Error in modification was harmless.

Lagerstrom v. Myrtle Werth Hospital-Mayo Health System, 285 Wis. 2d 1 (Wis. 2005) (collateral source evidentiary rule and subrogation discussed; statutory modification via § 893.55(7))
Koffman v. Leichtfuss, 246 Wis. 2d 31 (Wis. 2001) (collateral source rule and subrogation rights discussion)
State v. Moran, 284 Wis. 2d 24 (Wis. 2005) (discretion in evidentiary rulings and standard for admission)
Nommensen v. Am. Cont'l Ins. Co., 246 Wis. 2d 132 (Wis. 2001) (jury instruction standards and balancing admissibility)
State v. Ziebart, 268 Wis. 2d 468 (Wis. Ct. App. 2003) (harmless error and evidentiary review framework)