N.C.P.I.—Civil 809.156

(Use for medical malpractice wrongful death claims

filed on or after 1 October 2011 when a per diem

argument is made. If a per diem argument is not made,

use N.C.P.I.-Civil 809.154. For all other wrongful death

claims filed before 1 October 2011, use N.C.P.I.-Civil

810.54 or 810.56.)

I instruct you that your findings on the (state number) issue must

be based on the evidence and the rules of law I have given you with

respect to the measure of damages.1 You are not required to accept the

amount of damages suggested by the parties or their attorneys.

An attorney is allowed to suggest an amount of damages and

therefore can suggest an amount for each (specify unit(s) of time, e.g.,

“day, hour or minute”) of physical pain or mental suffering. However, I

instruct you that there is no fixed mathematical formula for computing

damages for physical pain or mental suffering. Furthermore, an

attorney's argument is not evidence but is merely an approach to the

damage issue which you may consider but need not adopt.2

Your award must be fair and just. You should remember that you

are not seeking to punish either party, and you are not awarding or

withholding anything on the basis of sympathy or pity.

Finally, as to the (state number) issue on which the estate has the

burden of proof, if you find by the greater weight of the evidence the

amount of economic damages proximately caused by the negligence of

the defendant, then it would be your duty to write that amount in the

blank space provided for “Economic Damages.” If you find by the greater

weight of the evidence the amount of non-economic damages proximately

caused by the negligence of the defendant, then it would be your duty to

write that amount in the blank space provided for “Non-economic

Damages.” You would then write the total of those two amounts of

actual damages on the verdict sheet in the blank space provided for

“Total Damages.”

If, on the other hand, you fail to find any amount of actual

damages, then it would be your duty to write a nominal sum such as

“One Dollar” in the blank space on the issue sheet for “Total Damages.”