Bazel v. Mabee

576 N.W.2d 385, 1998 Iowa App. LEXIS 9, 1998 WL 159783
CourtCourt of Appeals of Iowa
DecidedJanuary 28, 1998
Docket97-0202
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 576 N.W.2d 385 (Bazel v. Mabee) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Iowa primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

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Bazel v. Mabee, 576 N.W.2d 385, 1998 Iowa App. LEXIS 9, 1998 WL 159783 (iowactapp 1998).

Opinion

SACKETT, Judge.

Plaintiff-appellant Mary Bazel filed a medical malpractice claim against defendants-ap-pellees Thomas M. Mabee, James Phares, and St. Luke’s Hospital alleging use of Beta-dine, to which plaintiff claims an allergy, following surgery prolonged care of the wound causing debridement and necessitating skin grafts. The district court dismissed plaintiff’s claim on defendants’ motion for summary judgment, finding plaintiff failed to show by expert testimony the causal connection between the breach of duties and plaintiffs injuries. The district court further found moot defendant’s claim plaintiff violated Iowa Code section 668.11 in not disclosing the qualifications of experts or the reasons for calling them. We reverse and remand.

Plaintiff had an artery bypass graft at defendant St. Luke’s Hospital 1 in September 1993. Defendant Mabee was her surgeon and defendant Phares was a physician’s as *387 sistant earing for plaintiff. There .is evidence plaintiff told one or more persons at the time of admittance she was allergic to Betadine. 2 There is evidence Betadine was used during and following plaintiffs surgery.

Plaintiff contends the trial court erred in dismissing this claim on summary judgment. The question is whether expert testimony was necessary to establish a prima facie claim of medical malpractice. A second issue raised by defendants but not addressed by the trial court is whether plaintiff made a proper designation of experts as mandated by Iowa Code section 668.11.

Our standards for reviewing a grant of a motion for summary judgment are well established:

We will uphold a grant of summary judgment when no genuine issue of material fact exists and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. An issue of fact is “material” only when the dispute is over facts that might affect the outcome of the litigation, given the applicable governing law.
When we review the propriety of a grant of summary judgment, the moving party is required to show that no genuine issue of material fact exists and that he or she is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. In determining whether the movant has met this burden, we review the record in a light most favorable to the party opposing summary judgment, in this case the plaintiff.
In this sense, we review the record as we would on a motion for directed verdict, with the nonmoving party entitled to every legitimate inference that reasonably can be deduced from the evidence and summary judgment is inappropriate if reasonable minds can differ on how the issue should be resolved.

Smith v. CRST Int'l, Inc., 553 N.W.2d 890, 893 (Iowa 1996) (citing Dickerson v. Mertz, 547 N.W.2d 208, 212 (Iowa 1996) (citations omitted)).

To establish a prima facie case of medical malpractice, a plaintiff must produce evidence: (1) establishing the applicable standard of care, (2) demonstrating a violation of this standard, and (3) developing a causal relationship between the violation and the injury sustained. Oswald v. LeGrand, 453 N.W.2d 634, 635 (Iowa 1990).

Most medical malpractice lawsuits are so highly technical they may not be submitted to a fact finder without medical expert testimony supporting the claim. Thomas v. Fellows, 456 N.W.2d 170, 173 (Iowa 1990). Generally, when the ordinary care of a physician is an issue in a medical malpractice action, only experts in the profession can testify and establish the standard of care and skill required. Bray v. Hill, 517 N.W.2d 223, 226 (Iowa App.1994) (Donielson, C.J., and Sackett, J., dissenting). There are two exceptions to this rule: (1) where the physician’s lack, of care is so obvious as to be within the comprehension of a layperson and requires only common knowledge and experience to understand, and (2) when the physician injures á part of the body not being treated. Oswald, 453 N.W.2d at 635-36.

Having been advised of and charting plaintiffs allergy, defendants should not have used Betadine absent some compelling reason to do so. Defendants have not shown a compelling' reason for using it. Expert evidence to establish a factual question as to defendants’ negligence was not necessary. The evidence Betadine was used despite plaintiffs reporting an allergy to it showed a lack of care sufficient to generate a jury question on negligence without expert testimony. 3

The next question is whether plaintiff was required to introduce expert testimony to support proximate cause or whether it, too, comes under the common knowledge exception. Though fault is established, it does not necessarily prove proximate cause. See Oak Leaf Country Club, Inc. v. Wilson, 257 *388 N.W.2d 739, 746 (Iowa 1977). Whether the result of applying Betadine to plaintiffs skin caused the damage she claims to have suffered is not within the common knowledge of a non-medically trained person. Consequently, to generate a factual issue on the question of proximate cause, plaintiff must present expert testimony sufficient to prove the injury was caused by defendants’ negligence.

The deadline for disclosing experts was May 10,1996. Plaintiff filed a designation of expert witness on April 30, 1996. That designation stated:

Plaintiff, Mary Bazel, ... hereby designates her medical expert witness as John J. Murray, M.D., Ph.D., Department of Allergy-Immunology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, 843 Light Hall, Nashville, TN 37232-0111.

On December 23, 1996, defendant medical center filed its certification, stating:

Genesis Medical Center ... certifies to the court that it may call the following expert witnesses:
1. John Corson, M.D., Director of Vascular Department, University of Iowa Hospitals and Climes, Iowá City, LA 52242.
Dr. Corson is a medical doctor specializing in vascular surgery. Dr. Corson will testify as to appropriate standards of care, will testify concerning his opinions on the care and treatment given to Mary Bazel by Defendants, will testify as to the cause of Mary Bazel’s medical conditions, and will respond to opinions given by experts identified by the Plaintiffs. See C.V. attached to Affidavit of John Corson, previously filed in this case.
In addition, Defendant may ask opinion questions of Plaintiffs’ treating health care providers, the other Defendants, and experts listed by other parties.

On November 25, 1996, plaintiff supplemented her answer to the following interrogatory:

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576 N.W.2d 385, 1998 Iowa App. LEXIS 9, 1998 WL 159783, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bazel-v-mabee-iowactapp-1998.