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Walter v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
Supreme Judicial Court of Maine (2000) | 2000 ME 63; 748 A.2d 961; 2000 Me. LEXIS 66
TL;DR: A Wal-Mart pharmacist gave Walter the wrong chemotherapy drug, causing serious illness and prolonged hospitalization. The court affirmed judgment establishing Wal-Mart’s liability and a $550,000 jury award, concluding that the evidence compelled liability and that mitigation instructions adequately addressed Walter’s possible contribution to her injuries.
Legal Significance: The decision permits judgment as a matter of law when evidence compels findings of pharmacist negligence and causation. It also rejects duplicate reductions for comparative negligence and failure to mitigate, while leaving unresolved the broader classification of a patient’s failure to follow medical instructions.