Bryant v. Department Of Health And Hospitals

264 So. 3d 521
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJanuary 16, 2019
Docket18-423
StatusPublished

This text of 264 So. 3d 521 (Bryant v. Department Of Health And Hospitals) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bryant v. Department Of Health And Hospitals, 264 So. 3d 521 (La. Ct. App. 2019).

Opinion

GREMILLION, Judge.

*523Plaintiff/Appellant, Mr. Jordan Bryant, appeals the dismissal of his personal injury claim against the Defendants/Appellees, Andrea Ford, Thaddeus Green, and the State of Louisiana through the Department of Health and Hospitals (DHH), the Office for Citizens with Developmental Disabilities (OCDD), Pinecrest Supports & Services Center (Pinecrest), and the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) on exceptions of prematurity and prescription.

The facts alleged in Mr. Bryant's original petition assert a very tragic incident in which Ford and Green, employed at the time by Pinecrest, took Mr. Bryant, a resident of Pinecrest, into his room and used excessive force to subdue him. As a result, Mr. Bryant's neck was broken, and he was rendered a quadriplegic. In his petition, he alleged a number of negligent and intentional acts and omissions on the defendants' part, including allegations that sound as though at least part of his demand is based upon medical malpractice. Prior to filing his suit, though, Mr. Bryant did not request that his matter be submitted to a medical review panel (a panel) pursuant to the Medical Liability for State Services Part of the Louisiana Medical Malpractice Act (the Act), La.R.S. 40:1237.1 et seq., which, with certain exceptions, requires that medical malpractice claims against the State first be submitted to a panel.

The defendants filed exceptions of prematurity and prescription in which they asserted that Mr. Bryant's claim was premature because he did not convene a panel and had prescribed because more than a year elapsed since his injury and he had not initiated his claim properly. Mr. Bryant amended his petition several times in an attempt to address the exceptions. At the hearing on the exceptions, no evidence was introduced. No documentary evidence was attached to any of the defendants' exceptions. The trial court granted the exceptions as to all defendants. This appeal followed. Mr. Bryant asserts that the trial court erred in granting Appellees' exceptions of prematurity and prescription because they failed to carry the requisite burden of proof. He further asserts that the trial court erred in applying the Louisiana Medical Malpractice Act to the allegations asserted in his petition. For the reasons that follow, we reverse.

ANALYSIS

The Act erects a framework within which all medical malpractice claims against state health care providers must be pursued. " 'Malpractice' means the failure to exercise the reasonable standard of care specified and required by Subsection B of this Section, in the provision of health care, when such failure proximately causes injury to a patient, as provided in Subsection B of this Section." La.R.S. 40:1237.1(A)(4). The definition of "State health care provider" is lengthy; however, it essentially encompasses all state departments and agencies that provide health care services, including their employees acting in the course and scope of their employment. La.R.S. 40:1237.1(A)(9).

"No action against the state, its agencies, or a person covered by this Part, or his insurer, may be commenced in any court before the claimant's complaint has been presented to a state medical review panel established pursuant to this Section." La.R.S. 40:1237.2(B)(1)(a)(i).

*524The defendants who interpose exceptions of prematurity bear the burden of proof, including entitlement to review of the plaintiff's action by a panel. Broussard v. Lafayette Physical Rehabilitation Hosp., LLC , 15-1185 (La.App. 3 Cir. 5/4/16), 191 So.3d 1202. Because the defendants justify the trial court's maintenance of their exceptions on the basis of the allegations contained in Mr. Bryant's petition and amended petitions, we will examine those in detail. Defendants argue that, as a matter of law, Mr. Bryant's petition(s) allege medical malpractice claims.

After receiving the exceptions, as mentioned above, Mr. Bryant sought to address the exceptions by filing first, second, and third supplemental and amending petitions. There exists a problem with these amended pleadings, though; for, while Mr. Bryant prayed for leave of court to file these pleadings, no order allowed them. No written consent of any party to these amendments appears in the record. See La.Code Civ.P. art. 1151. We are without authority to consider them.

Mr. Bryant's original petition alleges in part:

6.
On or about September 30, 2016, Andrea Ford and Thaddeus Green, who were employed as staff at Pinecrest, took Jordan into his room and used unreasonable physical force on him to subdue him, which caused him significant bodily injury and rendered him unconscious.

The petition goes on to allege that the defendants were negligent in several particulars, including "Failing to adhere to the accepted standards of medical and mental health practices required under the circumstances[,]" and "Intentionally and/or negligently using excessive, unreasonable and unwarranted force to control the behavior of Jordan Bryant[.]" The petition also alleges that Mr. Bryant was treated for his injuries at Rapides Regional Medical Center. After release from Rapides Regional, Mr. Bryant was sent to Meadowview Nursing Home in Minden, Louisiana, where, he alleges, he was subjected to abuse and neglect. Bedsores he developed at Meadowview resulted in Mr. Bryant having to undergo surgery at Willis Knighten Medical Center in Shreveport, followed by return to Meadowview.

The question before us, then, is whether the petition on its face alleges a medical malpractice claim. We note that, because no evidence was adduced at the hearing on the defendants' exceptions, our review owes no deference to the trial court's determination. Arton v. Tedesco , 14-1281 (La.App. 3 Cir. 4/29/15), 176 So.3d 1125, writ denied , 15-1065 (La. 9/11/15), 176 So.3d 1043.

Coleman v. Deno , 01-1517, pp. 17-18 (La. 1/25/02), 813 So.2d 303, 315 (citations omitted), listed the six factors courts should consider in determining whether conduct is "malpractice":

"[1] whether the particular wrong is 'treatment related' or caused by a dereliction of professional skill,
[2] whether the wrong requires expert medical evidence to determine whether the appropriate standard of care was breached, and
[3] whether the pertinent act or omission involved assessment of the patient's condition."
....

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Related

Grant v. Natchitoches Manor Nursing Home
696 So. 2d 73 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1997)
Coleman v. Deno
813 So. 2d 303 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 2002)
Arton v. Tedesco
176 So. 3d 1125 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2015)
Broussard v. Lafayette Physical Rehabilitation Hospital, LLC
191 So. 3d 1202 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2016)
Day v. Allen
129 So. 260 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1930)

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Bluebook (online)
264 So. 3d 521, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bryant-v-department-of-health-and-hospitals-lactapp-2019.