Armijo v. Albuquerque Anesthesia Services, Ltd.

679 P.2d 271, 101 N.M. 129
CourtNew Mexico Court of Appeals
DecidedMarch 8, 1984
Docket7320
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 679 P.2d 271 (Armijo v. Albuquerque Anesthesia Services, Ltd.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New Mexico Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Armijo v. Albuquerque Anesthesia Services, Ltd., 679 P.2d 271, 101 N.M. 129 (N.M. Ct. App. 1984).

Opinion

OPINION

WOOD, Judge.

■ Charlie Armijo was admitted to the hospital on February 12, 1980, for a knee operation to be performed on February 13, 1980. The surgery was performed as scheduled. Armijo died approximately eighteen hours after the surgery. Plaintiff sought damages from multiple defendants on the basis of wrongful death. This appeal involves only one of the defendants, Albuquerque Anesthesia Services, Ltd. (Corporation), allegedly the corporate employer of three persons involved in the anesthesia aspects of the surgery. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the Corporation. Plaintiff appeals. Plaintiff contends: (1) there was no substantive basis for granting the summary judgment, and (2) the procedure followed in granting the summary judgment was improper.

Substantive Basis for the Summary Judgment

The three alleged employees shown by the depositions to have been involved in the anesthesia aspects of the surgery were two anesthesiologists, Drs. Phelps and Khera, and one nurse anesthetist, Nurse Grein. Dr. Phelps examined Armijo before the surgery for the purpose of evaluating Armijo as an anesthesia patient. Nurse Grein administered the anesthesia. Dr. Khera was the supervising anesthesiologist during surgery and in the recovery room.

Plaintiff sued Drs. Phelps and Khera, making specific claims against them; their motions for summary judgment were denied and are not involved in this appeal. Plaintiff did not sue Nurse Grein.

Plaintiff also made a specific claim against the Corporation. The amended complaint states:

2. Defendant Albuquerque Anesthesia Services, Ltd. knew or should have known that the ratio of anesthesiologists to nurse anesthetists was dangerously low. Albuquerque Anesthesia Services departed from the requisite standard of care by failing to supply sufficient qualified anesthesiologists on February 12 and 13, 1980 to properly and safely supervise the administration of anesthesia to patients * * 11 and to properly supervise the nurse anesthetists.
3. This departure from the standard of care was a direct and proximate cause of Charlie Armijo’s death. * * * *

This claim—wrongful death caused by an improper ratio of anesthesiologists to nurse anesthetists and insufficient anesthesiologists to supervise the administration of anesthesia and properly supervise nurse anesthetists—was the only specific claim against the Corporation. Summary judgment was granted as to this claim.

The initial burden was on the Corporation, as the movant, to show, prima facie, an absence of a genuine issue of fact and that it was entitled to summary judgment. Goodman v. Brock, 83 N.M. 789, 498 P.2d 676 (1972). Plaintiff asserts that defendant failed to meet this burden. We disagree.

Plaintiff claims that the Corporation’s summary judgment motion was based on an affidavit of Dr. Phelps. Plaintiff asserts that this affidavit was insufficient to support the summary judgment because it stated conclusions rather than facts admissible in evidence. See Smith v. Klebanoff, 84 N.M. 50, 499 P.2d 368 (Ct.App. 1972). We note that plaintiff did not object to the use of the affidavit in the trial court; this contention is raised for the first time on appeal. See Chavez v. Ronquillo, 94 N.M. 442, 612 P.2d 234 (Ct.App.1980). However, it is unnecessary to decide whether Dr. Phelps’ affidavit supports the summary judgment.

The motion for summary judgment did not rely solely on the affidavit of Dr. Phelps. The motion also relied on the deposition testimony of Dr. Phelps and the anesthesia records of Armijo from the hospital. Dr. Phelps, an anesthesiologist, was a qualified witness on the anesthesia aspects of the surgery. The fact that Dr. Phelps was also a defendant in the case did not make his testimony incompetent. NMSA 1978, UJI Civ. 11.2 (Repl.Pamp. 1980), Directions for Use; Sewell v. Wilson, 97 N.M. 523, 641 P.2d 1070 (Ct.App. 1982); Evans v. Bernhard, 23 Ariz.App. 413, 533 P.2d 721 (1975).

Dr. Phelps testified in detail, in his deposition, as to his preoperative examination and his assignment of Armijo to a Class II risk category because of Armijo’s obesity. He was not involved in Armijo’s intraoperative and immediate postoperative care, but had reviewed the hospital records. He also saw Armijo in the recovery room. He opined that Armijo “had an entirely uneventful anesthetic and postoperative course, and having fully recovered from his anesthesia * * *.” He testified that he was interested in the cause of Armijo’s death, that he discussed the case with Dr. Khera and “[s]he had nothing contributory relative to the cause of his death * * He testified that he checked the anesthesia record to make sure the nurse anesthetist had done nothing wrong and saw nothing wrong with the anesthesia. He checked the recovery room record to make sure that Armijo had received good care. He testified that Armijo did very well and was discharged from the recovery room “with a perfect score, utilizing our scoring system for status upon discharge.” He testified that upon Armijo’s discharge from the recovery room, he “had recovered from his anesthetic and was possessed of normal vital signs, orientation, oral intake. And I think it was coincidental that he expired in the hospital, versus at home.”

Other deposition testimony was referred to by counsel for both parties at the summary judgment hearing. This additional testimony need not be discussed in deciding whether the Corporation made a prima facie case entitling it to summary judgment. Dr. Phelps’ deposition testimony, together with the anesthesia records, made a prima facie case entitling the Corporation to summary judgment.

Anticipating our holding that there was a prima facie case for summary judgment, plaintiff contends that the testimony of several deponents raised a factual issue which made summary judgment improper. Goodman v. Brock. Portions of the deposition testimony, on which plaintiff relies, have not been included in the appellate record and, thus, cannot be considered. Jones v. Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Co., 100 N.M. 268, 669 P.2d 744 (Ct.App.1983). The deposition testimony in the appellate record, on which plaintiff relies, is testimony involving the “ratio” and the “supervision” allegation previously quoted. We did not review the showing as to these allegations in holding that the Corporation made a prima facie case, nor need we review the showing as to these allegations in deciding whether there was a factual issue which made summary judgment improper. Such a review is unnecessary because the trial court did not grant summary judgment on the basis of the “ratio” or “supervision” allegations.

The trial court ruled that as to the “ratio” and “supervision” allegations, “there is no showing that they had anything to do with the death of Mr.

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Bluebook (online)
679 P.2d 271, 101 N.M. 129, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/armijo-v-albuquerque-anesthesia-services-ltd-nmctapp-1984.