Brisendine v. Hunt

158 S.E. 469, 43 Ga. App. 115, 1931 Ga. App. LEXIS 210
CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
DecidedApril 1, 1931
Docket21071
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 158 S.E. 469 (Brisendine v. Hunt) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Brisendine v. Hunt, 158 S.E. 469, 43 Ga. App. 115, 1931 Ga. App. LEXIS 210 (Ga. Ct. App. 1931).

Opinion

Luke, J.

James M. Brisendine brought his action for damages against Dr. Kenneth S. Hunt, a practicing physician and surgeon, for malpractice. The trial resulted in a verdict for the defendant; the plaintiff’s motion for a new trial was overruled and the movant excepted.

There being no demurrer in the case, it is deemed sufficient for the purposes of this decision to state somewhat generally the allegations of the petition. It alleges that in operating for hemorrhoids on April 25, 1928, the defendant negligently “cut, ruptured, and severed the sphincter ani muscle in petitioner’s body;” that when the wound resulting from said operation had thoroughly healed, “petitioner found out that he was unable to control the movement of his bowels;” that soon thereafter defendant examined petitioner and advised him that he had severed said muscle in said operation and that another operation would be necessary; that, on September 26, 1928, defendant again operated on petitioner in an endeavor “to sew or suture the ends of said cut and severed sphincter ani muscle together” that two days later petitioner left the hospital upon the advice of defendant, and that a day thereafter, when petitioner suffered severe pains in the lower part of his body, defendant told petitioner that “nothing could be done about it, because it would have to heal by granulation;” that when the wound had healed after the expiration of five or six weeks “so far as being sore and sensitive was concerned,” petitioner, was in a worse condition than he was before said second operation, and was totally unable to control the movements of his bowels; that defendant told petitioner that he did not know “if anything could be done about his condition, but that he would carry him to consult with another [117]*117physician;" that defendant never mentioned the subject again, but avoided petitioner, broke appointments with him, and finally abandoned him entirely; that since said first operation petitioner had never been able to control the movements of his bowels, and that his condition in that respect had constantly grown worse; that petitioner’s said condition was embarrassing, humiliating, painful, and permanent, and greatly handicapped him in working at his trade of contracting and building; and that petitioner was fifty-five years old, had an expectancy of from twenty to thirty years, and had been damaged in the sum of $25,000. By an amendment duly allowed, the petition further alleged that the defendant negligently “cut, severed, and ruptured not only the external, but also the internal sphincter ani muscle;” that the defendant was negligent in carrying petitioner home two days after said second operation; and that defendant was negligent in failing to come to petitioner’s aid for a day and a half when petitioner had called him after said second operation.

In his answer the defendant admitted performing the first operation, denied all allegations of negligence, and further pleaded “that the operation performed and treatment given by the defendant were properly, carefully, and skilfully performed and given,” and that “defendant exercised the degree of care required by law in performing the operation upon the plaintiff and in the medical attention given the plaintiff.”

In his brief, counsel for the plaintiff insists that the judgment should be reversed upon the general grounds, and forcefully presents his contention. We have-carefully read and considered the one hundred and sixty odd pages of the brief of evidence, and are unable to concur in counsel’s view. Granting that the jury might have concluded from the evidence adduced in behalf of the plaintiff that he was entitled to recover, we are quite sure that there is sufficient evidence to sustain the verdict. It appears from the record that when the first operation was performed the plaintiff was anemic, weak, and emaciated, and was suffering from a longstanding case of internal hemorrhoids which made an operation necessary; that plaintiff’s said condition tended to weaken his sphincter ani muscles; that it was necessary to stretch said muscles in order to perform the necessary operation, and that, while it was unusual to rupture said muscles in performing such an operation, [118]*118it did sometimes occur that they were ruptured by a surgeon who was exercising all due care and diligence in performing the operation. According to defendant’s detailed description of the operation, he performed it properly and in accordance with approved methods. He swore: “The operation I performed in April, 1928, was performed in the manner which is recognized generally as being proper. I did not do anything at that time or at any other time which is recognized by the profession generally as being improper or unskilful. I did not leave anything undone that a skilful surgeon would have done. I have never avoided Mr. Brisendine—never tried to .dodge him.” Dr. C. F. Griffith, who assisted Dr. Hunt in operating upon Mr. Brisendine, testified that both operations were performed skilfully and properly, and that in his opinion it was advisable to wait until September to perform the second operation.

Dr. A. H. Frye, sworn for the plaintiff testified in part as follows: “From all the facts and circumstances in my knowledge, including my examination of Mr. Brisendine to-day, I can not say whether or not the operation . . was skilfully or unskilfully done. The fact that the sphincter ani muscle was ruptured in stretching it for the operation does not necessarily imply that the stretching or the subsequent operation was negligently or unskilfully done. . . I could not tell from my examination of Mr. Brisendine whether the muscle was cut or ruptured. . . You can never sterilize a rectum. It is the sewer system of the body and you have millions of organisms there all the time, and if the suture is infected and turns loose and doesn’t hold it doesn’t mean that you have a defective suture, or that it was unskilfully done.”

It would answer no good purpose to set out the evidence favorable to plaintiff in error. It is so well known that the jury are the judges of the ■ credibility of the witnesses and the weight of the evidence, and that it is not a proper exercise of its authority for this court to reverse a judgment upon the general grounds of a motion for a new trial where there is any evidence to sustain the verdict, that citation of authorities in this regard is unnecessary. We are constrained to hold that the trial judge did not err in overruling the general grounds of the motion for a new trial.

Special ground 1 alleges that the court erred “because . . the following evidence was illegally admitted to the jury by the [119]*119court, over the objection of movant:” “My name is H. W. Copeland. I am a practicing physician and surgeon . . here in Griffin. I have been in Griffin four years. I have been practicing twenty-nine years. I practiced in Jackson, Georgia, before coming to Griffin. I am not very much familiar with the operation to remove internal hemorrhoids; I haven’t done any surgery for quite a while, because I wasn’t convenient to a hospital. I am not familiar with the operation for removal of internal hemorrhoids. I have had quite a number of patients suffering from internal hemorrhoids sent to Atlanta to be operated upon, and sent back to me for future treatment. The only thing I know, the operations were performed by reputable surgeons. I only remember one who was unable to control his bowels about three years. He recovered; I think it takes a long time, but it will, recover.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
158 S.E. 469, 43 Ga. App. 115, 1931 Ga. App. LEXIS 210, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/brisendine-v-hunt-gactapp-1931.