Columbia Medical Center Subsidiary, L.P. v. Meier

198 S.W.3d 408, 2006 Tex. App. LEXIS 6368, 2006 WL 2036574
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJuly 21, 2006
Docket05-05-00172-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by38 cases

This text of 198 S.W.3d 408 (Columbia Medical Center Subsidiary, L.P. v. Meier) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Columbia Medical Center Subsidiary, L.P. v. Meier, 198 S.W.3d 408, 2006 Tex. App. LEXIS 6368, 2006 WL 2036574 (Tex. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinion

OPINION

Opinion by

Justice LANG-MIERS.

This is a medical malpractice case. John Meier was hospitalized in the intensive care unit of Columbia Medical Center Subsidiary, L.P. d/b/a North Central Medical Center following surgeries for gallstones and bowel obstruction. While gravely ill and in the ICU, he developed a decubitus ulcer (pressure ulcer or bed sore) on his coccyx (tailbone). He sued North Central for damages, claiming North Central was negligent by failing to provide pressure relief, which proximately caused the development of the decubitus ulcer, and by failing to provide proper care and treatment for the decubitus ulcer after it was discovered. North Central argued the development of the decubitus ulcer was unavoidable and was caused by Meier’s grave medical condition. The jury found in favor of Meier. On appeal, North Central argues (1) the trial court erroneously excluded evidence essential to North Central’s defense, and (2) the evidence is legally and factually insufficient to support the jury’s verdict. For the reasons that follow, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

BACKGROUND

On the night of January 2, 2001, Meier arrived at North Central’s emergency room complaining of abdominal pain. He was 81 years old at the time. Meier was diagnosed with gallstones and underwent gall bladder surgery the next day. Following the surgery, Meier developed a bowel obstruction which required two additional surgeries over the next ten days. His health began to deteriorate following the last surgery, and Meier was transferred to the ICU on January 13, 2001. Meier was diagnosed with multiple medical conditions, the most serious being adult respiratory distress syndrome, which caused his lungs to fill up with liquids and required him to be on a ventilator providing him 100 percent oxygen; septic shock, an infection in the blood that caused his heart not to pump effectively and lowered his blood pressure; and multiorgan failure. That same day, Dr. Boatman, Meier’s primary treating physician, discontinued Meier’s total parenteral nutrition (TPN) (tube feeding of calories, proteins, and vitamins) because he believed the TPN might aggravate Meier’s failing kidneys. A “do not resuscitate” order was given. Meier was sedated, on a paralytic, and unable to turn or reposition himself.

While in the ICU, Meier developed a skin tear on his tailbone that developed into a serious decubitus ulcer. Eventually, Meier’s medical condition improved and on February 6 he was transferred to Life Care Hospital of Dallas, a rehabilitation hospital. At Life Care, Meier developed decubitus ulcers on his heels. On April 19, Meier was transferred from Life Care to a YA hospital. The decubitus ulcer on his tailbone healed by August 2001. He was discharged from the VA hospital in August 2002. Meier testified that, even though the decubitus ulcer on his tailbone has healed, a portion of the wound area is hard and painful, that he experiences daily discomfort in this area, and he is no longer able to perform many of the activities he enjoyed before his hospitalization.

The jury found North Central’s negligence proximately caused Meier’s injuries and awarded him $35,000 for medical expenses, $135,000 for past physical pain and mental anguish, $25,000 for future pain and mental anguish, $25,000 for physical *411 impairment in the past, and $25,000 for future physical impairment. The trial court entered judgment in accordance with the jury’s verdict.

Exclusion of Medical RECORDS

In its first issue, North Central argues the trial court abused its discretion by not admitting Meier’s medical records from Life Care and the related expert testimony. It argues this evidence was essential to its defense because Meier claimed that the failure by the North Central nurses to provide pressure relief every two hours caused the development of the decubitus ulcer on his tailbone. It contends the evidence was relevant to show that North Central’s failure to turn him was not the proximate cause of his injuries because the Life Care medical records showed that Meier developed decubitus ulcers on his heels despite being turned every two hours while he was in that facility. North Central argues this evidence shows the ulcer was unpreventable and unavoidable. It also argues these records and the related expert testimony were the only evidence of their kind on a material issue in the case, proximate cause.

The trial court did not admit the medical records and related expert testimony because it concluded they were not relevant and had great potential for confusing and misleading the jury. The trial court told North Central the evidence was not relevant because North Central had not shown that the two incidents were identical. North Central argues the trial court applied the wrong standard to the admissibility of those records because the incidents did not have to be identical to be relevant. It argues the trial court’s exclusion of the evidence probably caused the rendition of an improper judgment.

A. Standard of Review

The trial court has discretion in deciding whether to admit or exclude evidence. Interstate Northborough P’ship v. State, 66 S.W.3d 213, 220 (Tex.2001); Gibson v. Ellis, 126 S.W.3d 324, 332-33 (Tex.App.-Dallas 2004, no pet.). A trial court abuses its discretion when it acts in an arbitrary and unreasonable manner, or when it acts without reference to any guiding principles. See Beaumont Bank, N.A. v. Buller, 806 S.W.2d 223, 226 (Tex.1991); Downer v. Aquamarine Operators, Inc., 701 S.W.2d 238, 241-42 (Tex.1985). Even if we find error, and before we will reverse a case based on an evidentiary ruling, appellant must show the evidence was controlling on a material issue and was not cumulative. See Tex. Dep’t of Transp. v. Able, 35 S.W.3d 608, 617 (Tex.2000) (successful challenge to evidentiary ruling requires complainant to show judgment turned on particular evidence excluded or admitted); Williams Distrib. Co. v. Franklin, 898 S.W.2d 816, 817 (Tex.1995); Mentis v. Barnard, 870 S.W.2d 14, 16 (Tex.1994) (excluded testimony of accident reconstruction expert would have addressed central issue of comparative negligence and expert’s noncumulative calculations and opinions were controlling, though not conclusive, on whether excessive speed caused death); Brookshire Grocery Co. v. Smith, 99 S.W.3d 819, 823 (Tex.App.-Beaumont 2003, pet. denied) (falsified answer on job application did not directly address elements of negligence action and therefore not controlling on a material issue). We will uphold a trial court’s ruling if it is correct under any legal theory. See Custom Leasing, Inc. v. Tex. Bank & Trust Co. of Dallas, 516 S.W.2d 138, 142 (Tex.1974); Seaman v. Seaman, 425 S.W.2d 339, 341 (Tex.1968).

B. ■ Applicable Law

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Bluebook (online)
198 S.W.3d 408, 2006 Tex. App. LEXIS 6368, 2006 WL 2036574, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/columbia-medical-center-subsidiary-lp-v-meier-texapp-2006.