Adkins v. Sanders

871 So. 2d 732, 2004 WL 908287
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedApril 29, 2004
Docket2000-CT-01885-SCT
StatusPublished
Cited by28 cases

This text of 871 So. 2d 732 (Adkins v. Sanders) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Mississippi Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Adkins v. Sanders, 871 So. 2d 732, 2004 WL 908287 (Mich. 2004).

Opinion

871 So.2d 732 (2004)

Samuel ADKINS, Individually and on Behalf of the Statutory Wrongful Death Beneficiaries of Linda Kay Adkins, Deceased
v.
Curren J. SANDERS, M.D., and Sanders Clinic for Women, P.A.

No. 2000-CT-01885-SCT.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

April 29, 2004.

*734 Bo Russell, William B. Gill, III, Jackson, Richard Massie, Martin Donna S. Cummings, attorneys for appellants.

Donna M. Barnes, L.F. Sams, Jr., Flowood, John G. Wheeler, Tupelo, attorneys for appellees.

EN BANC.

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI

SMITH, Chief Justice, for the Court.

¶ 1. After the death of his wife, Linda Kay Adkins, Samuel Adkins, individually and on behalf of Linda's wrongful death beneficiaries ("Adkins"), filed this medical malpractice action in the Circuit Court of Lee County, Mississippi, against defendants Curren J. Sanders, M.D., Sanders Clinic for Women P.A., and North Mississippi Medical Center. After a trial, the jury returned a verdict in favor of the defendants, and judgment was entered accordingly. *735 Adkins appealed claiming the trial court committed reversible error in denying plaintiff's jury instruction P-21 on the applicable standard of care. Moreover, Adkins asserted that the trial court committed reversible error in refusing to excuse Juror No. 22, a patient of the defendant, for cause. The Court of Appeals reversed and remanded the case. The defendants filed a petition for writ of certiorari claiming the Court of Appeals improperly found the trial court in error with regards to the refusal of the jury instruction and the refusal to excuse Juror No. 22. We agree and find that the trial court did not commit reversible error in denying plaintiff's jury instruction regarding the applicable standard of care. Nor did the trial judge commit reversible error in refusing to excuse Juror No. 22. Accordingly, we reverse the judgment of the Court of Appeals, and we affirm the trial court's judgment.

FACTS

¶ 2. In 1991, Linda Kay Adkins ("Linda") was diagnosed with lupus by Dr. Jean Gispen in Oxford, Mississippi. In 1993, Linda and her husband Sam Adkins discovered they were expecting their first child. Dr. Curren J. Sanders ("Dr. Sanders"), her obstetrician-gynecologist, knew of her condition. Dr. Sanders assured Linda that her lupus would not cause a problem with her pregnancy.

¶ 3. On March 31, 1994, Linda was placed in North Mississippi Medical Center ("NMMC") to undergo a caesarian section. Linda gave birth to a son, Logan Adkins. Following the birth, Linda began experiencing fever. Dr. Sanders assured Linda that all women experience fever after having a baby. Linda continued to have fevers, chills, and sweats. On April 7, one week after delivery, Linda died.

¶ 4. On October 12, 1995, Adkins timely filed a complaint in the Circuit Court of Lee County. The complaint named as defendants Dr. Sanders, the Sanders Clinic for Women, P.A. ("Sanders Clinic"), and the North Mississippi Medical Center ("NMMC").

¶ 5. During voir dire at the beginning of the trial, the parties discovered that some of the prospective jurors were either patients of Dr. Sanders or another physician in Sanders Clinic., or had loved ones who had been patients of Dr. Sanders. Juror No. 22 ("No. 22"), Ms. Palmer, stated during voir dire that Dr. Sanders delivered two of her children and that she continues to see him for regular yearly checkups. Other prospective jurors stated that they had ill feelings regarding medical malpractice civil actions since they themselves were in the medical field, or they had loved ones in the medical filed. Adkins was limited to four peremptory challenges under Miss. R. Civ. P. 47(c). Dissatisfied with the potential composition of the jury, Adkins made a general oral motion to remove all "persons who had been ... a patient of the physician, [Dr. Sanders], ... [or] at least to the extent that someone has had a baby delivered." The circuit court denied the motion finding that "the record in this case clearly indicate[s] that I have, on my own initiative, excluded those who I considered to have any predisposition one way or the other, including those who said they didn't believe in this kind of proceeding at all."

¶ 6. At trial, Adkins submitted jury instruction P-21 ("P-21"), which provided:

When a defendant tells a patient he can achieve a good result thereby claiming he possesses the skill necessary to perform the medical care involved, the standard of care to be applied in this case is that of an rheumatologist rather than a physician having a speciality in obstetrics. *736 Where a defendant admits that he did not possess the training or skill of a rheumatologist but, nevertheless, undertook treatment of a complicated pregnancy which requires special training and skill not possessed by the defendant, the defendant must be held to the standard of care exercised in the field in which he has claimed to be qualified.

During the instruction conference, the defendants objected to P-21 claiming it is "peremptory and does not ... furnish any guidance to the jury as to how it should make a determination in the case." The circuit court found P-21 was peremptory and refused the instruction. The jury returned a verdict in favor of the defendants, and the trial court entered final judgment accordingly.

¶ 7. Adkins filed a Motion For A New Trial Or, Alternatively, For Judgment Notwithstanding The Verdict. Adkins asserted that it was error to deny the P-21 Jury Instruction and that the trial court erred in allowing Juror No. 22 to sit on the jury. Further, Adkins asserted that "there were at least 75 additional persons who could have served had this baby patient juror been excused for cause." The circuit court denied the motion.

¶ 8. Adkins timely filed a notice of appeal. The appeal was assigned to the Court of Appeals which reversed and remanded the case. Adkins v. Sanders, 823 So.2d 550 (Miss.Ct.App.2002). In a 6 to 3 decision the Court of Appeals held that the trial court did not err in granting defendant's motion in limine; the trial court erred in refusing to grant plaintiff's jury instruction P-21 which held Dr. Sanders to a heightened standard of care; and the trial court erred in allowing Juror No. 22, a patient of Dr. Sanders, to be placed on the jury. On June 4, 2002, the defendants filed a Petition For Writ of Certiorari. Aggrieved by the judgment below, the defendants raise the following issues on appeal:

I. Whether The Court of Appeals Properly Found The Trial Court in Error For Refusing Plaintiff's Jury Instruction No. P-21, Which Sets Out a Heightened Standard of Care For Dr. Sanders.
II. Whether The Court of Appeals Properly Found The Trial Court in Error For Not Removing Juror No. 22, a Patient of Dr. Sanders, From The Jury Panel.

DISCUSSION

I. Standard of Care.

¶ 9. This Court does not review jury instructions in isolation. Jackson v. Daley, 739 So.2d 1031, 1037 (Miss.1999). Rather, we read the instructions as a whole. Entergy Miss., Inc. v. Bolden, 854 So.2d 1051, 1054 (Miss.2003). We will not find reversible error "where the instructions actually given, when read together as a whole, `fairly announce the law of the case and create no injustice.'" Id. (quoting Coleman v. State, 697 So.2d 777, 782 (Miss.1997)). If the instructions granted "adequately instruct the jury, a party may not complain of the refused instruction." Turner v. Temple, 602 So.2d 817, 823 (Miss.1992) (citing Purina Mills, Inc. v. Moak, 575 So.2d 993, 996 (Miss.1990); Payne v.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
871 So. 2d 732, 2004 WL 908287, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/adkins-v-sanders-miss-2004.