Cobb v. Mitchell

121 So. 3d 692, 2012 La.App. 1 Cir. 1032, 2013 WL 3238240, 2013 La. App. LEXIS 1343
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJune 27, 2013
DocketNos. 2012 CA 1032, 2012 CW 0067
StatusPublished

This text of 121 So. 3d 692 (Cobb v. Mitchell) 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
Cobb v. Mitchell, 121 So. 3d 692, 2012 La.App. 1 Cir. 1032, 2013 WL 3238240, 2013 La. App. LEXIS 1343 (La. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

GUIDRY, J.

12In this medical malpractice action, defendants, Horace L. Mitchell, M.D., The NeuroMedieal Center, and Louisiana Medical Mutual Insurance Company, appeal from a judgment of the trial court granting a judgment notwithstanding the verdict in favor of plaintiffs, Lorraine T. Cobb and Joseph Cobb, on the issue of informed consent. For the reasons that follow, we reverse.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

In November 2001, Lorraine Cobb began experiencing pain in her neck, right shoulder, and arm. After receiving treatment from her primary care physician and an orthopedic surgeon, Mrs. Cobb was referred to Dr. Horace Mitchell, a neurosurgeon at The NeuroMedieal Center for surgical evaluation. Mrs. Cobb presented to Dr. Mitchell on February 1, 2002, complaining of constant neck and right arm pain since November 2001. After physical examination of Mrs. Cobb and an evaluation of her January 8, 2002 MRI, Dr. Mitchell diagnosed her with cervical spon-dylosis and radiculopathy. Dr. Mitchell recommended that Mrs. Cobb undergo a cervical discectomy and fusion at three levels, C4-5, C5-6, and C6-7.

Mrs. Cobb sought a second opinion from Dr. Allen Joseph, a neurosurgeon also practicing at the NeuroMedieal Center, who diagnosed Mrs. Cobb with spinal sten-osis at C6-7 and C4-5 and concurred with Dr. Mitchell that Mrs. Cobb would be most appropriately served with a multi-level anterior cervical discectomy and fusion.

Thereafter, Mrs. Cobb returned to Dr. Mitchell’s office on March 8, 2002, to sign a consent form for the surgical procedure. The consent form was presented to Mrs. [694]*694Cobb by Dr. Mitchell’s physician’s assistant, John Merrill. The form contained a description of the procedure, the purpose of the procedure, the patient’s diagnosis, and a listing of the risks generally associated with any surgical | ^procedure, including death, brain damage, disfiguring scars, quadriplegia, paraplegia, the loss or loss of function of any organ or limb, infection, bleeding, and pain. The form noted that a listing of additional risks associated with the patient’s particular procedure and a listing of reasonable alternatives to the procedure were attached to the consent form. Mrs. Cobb signed the consent form on that date and signed the attachment detailing the risks associated with an anterior cervical discectomy with or without fusion and the alternative treatments. Dr. Mitchell also signed the consent form on the same date at 1:55 p.m.

Dr. Mitchell performed the cervical dis-cectomy and fusion at C4-5, C5-6, and C6-7 on March 11, 2002. Immediately following the surgery, Mrs. Cobb reported increased right-sided weakness and pain. Thereafter, Mrs. Cobb also complained of pain and weakness in her left and right lower extremities.

Mrs. Cobb filed a claim against Dr. Mitchell with the Louisiana Patient’s Compensation Fund on March 3, 2003. Following submission of the claim to a medical review panel, the panel rendered an opinion unanimously finding that the materials submitted to the panel failed to support the conclusion that Dr. Mitchell or the NeuroMedical Center deviated from the appropriate standard of medical care. The panel also noted that the medical record contains a written and signed operative consent.

Thereafter, on March 24, 2005, Mrs. Cobb and her husband, Joseph Cobb, filed a petition for damages in the Nineteenth Judicial District Court, asserting that immediately following the March 11, 2002 surgery, Mrs. Cobb developed neurological symptoms consistent with spinal cord contusion and compression. Mrs. Cobb asserted that symptoms in her upper extremities were much worse than prior to surgery and now extended down into the lower extremities. Mrs. Cobb alleged that over one year following the surgery, she had not significantly improved.

Lin the petition, Mrs. Cobb alleged that Dr. Mitchell breached the standard of care in the management of her condition by employing improper surgical techniques and/or committed surgical errors causing further neurological damage and/or failed to obtain proper and adequate informed consent under the circumstances. The plaintiffs named Dr. Mitchell, his insurer LAMMICO, and the NeuroMedical Center as defendants.

Following a jury trial on July 26, 2011 through July 29, 2011, the jury returned a verdict in favor of the defendants, finding that the defendants did not breach the standard of care owed by them to Mrs. Cobb and that the defendants did not fail to obtain proper informed consent from Mrs. Cobb. The trial court signed a judgment in conformity with the jury’s verdict on August 24, 2011.

On September 6, 2011, the plaintiffs filed a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict, or in the alternative, motion for new trial, asserting that the jury’s verdict was contrary to the law and the evidence. Following a hearing on the motions, the trial court denied the motion for JNOV by way of a minute entry, finding that the standard to be applied to such action had not been met. However, with respect to the motion for new trial, the trial court ordered the parties to brief only the issue of jury confusion vel non with respect to Subsection E of La. R.S. 40:1299.40 within ten days. Following a hearing on the mo[695]*695tion for new trial, the trial court signed a judgment on December 29, 2011, vacating the minute entry denying the motion for JNOV and granting a JNOV on the issue of informed consent, finding juror confusion existed with respect to the instruction and the law of informed consent, particularly Subparagraph E, which must be read in pari materia with the other subpara-graphs of the statute. The court further granted a motion for new trial to visit the issue of quantum and costs.

The defendants filed a motion and order for supervisory writs with the trial court, which set a return date for January 20, 2012. The defendants subsequently | sfiled a writ application with this court on January 12, 2012, seeking review of the trial court’s granting of a JNOV in favor of the plaintiffs. Cobb v. Mitchell, 2012 CW 0067.1

On February 3, 2012, the plaintiffs filed a motion for summary judgment, asserting that the parties had stipulated at trial that Mrs. Cobb’s present physical disabilities and injuries and medication consumed were caused by a contusion to the spinal cord during the March 11, 2002 surgery, and that there was no countervailing evidence introduced as to Mrs. Cobb’s damages. Following a hearing on the motion, the trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the plaintiffs, awarding $721,242.92 in damages, including general damages, past medical expenses, and loss of consortium. The trial court also decreed that Mrs. Cobb is in need of and is awarded future medical care and related benefits. The trial court rendered judgment in favor of plaintiffs and against Dr. Mitchell, the NeuroMedical Center, and LAMMICO in the amount $100,000.00 and rendered judgment in favor of plaintiffs and against the Louisiana Patient’s Compensation Fund in the amount $621,242.92.

Following the signing of the trial court’s judgment granting summary judgment in favor of plaintiffs and awarding damages, Dr. Mitchell, the NeuroMedical Center, and LAMMICO filed the instant appeal, seeking review of the trial court’s granting of the JNOV and a new trial on the issue of quantum and costs.

|fiDISCUSSION

A JNOV is a procedural device authorized by La. C.C.P. art. 1811, by which the trial court may modify the jury’s findings to correct an erroneous jury verdict.

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Bluebook (online)
121 So. 3d 692, 2012 La.App. 1 Cir. 1032, 2013 WL 3238240, 2013 La. App. LEXIS 1343, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cobb-v-mitchell-lactapp-2013.