Crespo, A. v. Hughes, W.

167 A.3d 168, 2017 Pa. Super. 230, 2017 WL 3033795, 2017 Pa. Super. LEXIS 535
CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedJuly 18, 2017
DocketCrespo, A. v. Hughes, W. No. 2231 EDA 2016
StatusPublished
Cited by39 cases

This text of 167 A.3d 168 (Crespo, A. v. Hughes, W.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Superior Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Crespo, A. v. Hughes, W., 167 A.3d 168, 2017 Pa. Super. 230, 2017 WL 3033795, 2017 Pa. Super. LEXIS 535 (Pa. Ct. App. 2017).

Opinion

OPINION BY

RANSOM, J.:

. Appellants, William B. Hughes, M.D., Hughes <& Hensell Associates, P.C., and Temple University Hospital, Inc,, appeal from the judgment entered June 21, 2016, in favor of Appellees, Antonio Crespo in the amount of $4,679,676.00 and Edward Torralvo in the amount of $538,000, following a twelve-day jury trial finding Appellants liable for medical malpractice. We affirm in part but remand for a new trial limited to damages attributable to Appel-lee Crespo.

We adopt the following factual background from the trial court’s 1925(a) opinion,

On the evening of June 16, 2011, [Ap-pellees] Crespo and Torralvo were power washing a brick wall when, despite using protective gear, some of the hydrofluoric acid solution they were using made contact with their hands. The next day, June 17, 2011, [Appellees’] hands began to itch; this itching developed into slight painful sensations. They proceeded to the Temple University Hospital (“TUH”) emergency room that afternoon at around 2:00 p.m,
The burn unit at TUH was consulted, and attending burn- specialist William Hughes, M.D.. formulated a treatment plan for both patients.. The treatment plan included initial treatment for pain management of the affected areas of the digits by injection of lidoeaine. The treatment plan also included injection of calcium gluconate into the affected digits. The calcium gluconate was injected to counteract the hydrofluoric acid,
Crespo’s affected digits were his left index finger and his left middle finger (his second and third digits).' Those two fingers, though itching and haying slight painful sensations, had appeared normal prior to the injections of calcium gluco-nate. Shortly after the injections;- Cres-po’s two fingers became discolored, weeping and bleeding from the injected areas.
Torralvo, after having seen the effects of the injections of calcium gluconate on Crespo’s fingers, terminated treatment after receiving some of the proposed injections. Crespo was discharged from the hospital[,] and Torralvo was either discharged or left the hospital.
Crespo’s second-and third digits became black and necrotic over the coming days, and .they required partial amputation at or around the first knuckle away from the palm. Torralvo complained of pain after his limited set of injections, and he received surgery to remove a necrotic portion of his finger ... reducing the mass and diameter of his index finger somewhat,, especially towards the tip of the finger. They both complain of ongoing neurological injuries, with,pain *175 at the sites of the surgeries, especially with contact.
[Appellees’] expert on standard of care and causation, Dr. Mosier, testified that treatment of the areas affected with a calcium gluconate topical gel would have been within the standard of care on these facts, but injecting calcium gluco-nate into the affected digits, especially in this volume, was outside the standard of care on these facts, due' to the risk of increased pressure cutting off blood flow to the digits. Moreover, Dr. McClellan, [Appellees’] treating physician for the amputations and excisions after the injuries occurred, also testified to causation as it pertained to his treatment of Cres-po. [Appellee] Crespo’s psychiatric expert, Dr. Tereo, testified to Crespo’s state of mind before and after the injuries occurred. [Appellants] offered Dr. Lozano as an expert on standard of care and causation and Dr. Toborowsky as a psychiatric expert. Relevant experts are discussed below in this section.
Crespo had significant pre-existing injuries to his back, which, at the time of his injuries giving rise to this suit, had prevented him from doing hard- labor. However, prior to the injuries giving rise to this suit, he had been a “cuatro” guitarist[. A] cuatro guitar is a kind of stringed instrument popular.in Puerto Rico. Crespo had played [with] the fingers of his left hand to place on the strings to obtain the notes; Crespo’s left hand was his fret hand. His right hand was his “pick hand.” The amputations of the fingers at or around the first knuckle on his fret hand affected his ability to obtain the notes. Crespo testified that after the amputations, despite -great effort, he was no longer able to play the cuatro with any significant musical ability. Crespo’s former music manager, David LaPonte [“Laponte”], testified at trial as to Crespo’s former ability, album, and fee arrangements. Charlie Cruz [“Cruz”], a prominent Puerto Ri-can vocalist and band leader, testified as to Crespo’s abilities and.Cruz’s experience with Crespo in his band, as well as the fee arrangements..
Specifically, the testimony, viewed in a light most favorable to [Appellee] Cres-po, was as follows: (1) Cruz would receive a certain lump sum for a show; (2) Cruz would pay a portion of that lump sum to Crespo’s music manager, [La-Ponte], for Crespo’s performance, and (3) Laponte would use the money to build Crespo’s “brand” through promotion, travel, music production, and various media appearances, much of which was documented in the exhibits.
The specific dollar value that Cruz testified to was as follows: “Sometimes three, five [shows] a month. I would pay him between $1,500, sometimes $1,000, sometimes $2,000. Depends on the venue, how much I get paid, I pay the musicians” N.T., 2/4/2015, Cruz, at 68. Cruz later clarified by answering “yes” to a question as to whether the money went to management. Id.
In addition to the testimony just described, the jury viewed a music video produced to feature Crespo playing his cuatro. [Appellees’] [vocational expert Robert Cipko, Ph.D. and economist David Hopkins testified as to income and lost wages.
Dr. Cipico, Crespo’s vocational expert, testified to an hourly income- range, then - summed the hourly rate to an annual income; from $49,379 at the median for Philadelphian musicians and vocalists to $142,750 in the top ten percent of that same class, see N.T., Cipko, 2/3/16, at . 82-84, less the residual earning capacity fin the range of $16,230 in the bottom ten percent of entry level cashiers to $17,390 in the bottom twenty percent of cash *176 iers, see id. at 88. Dr. Cipko also testified to other ranges such as slightly higher annual incomes for Pennsylvania musicians and vocalists, and slightly higher ranges for other entry level low physical labor employment.
Mr. Hopkins, Crespo’s economist, testified to a total work-life lost earning capacity of between $962,321 to $6,311,287, depending on retirement age, projected income less residual earning capacity, and adjustments for the time-value of money and interest. N.T., Hopkins, 2/4/2016, at 43. The higher figure was a result of using, among other factors, the higher range from Dr. Cipko for musicians and vocalists in Philadelphia (90th percentile), a retirement age of 70, and a discount rate to present value using a rate of 2.5 %. Id.
The jury, given its verdict, apparently did not find the evidence sufficient to support the higher range of the wage loss claim.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
167 A.3d 168, 2017 Pa. Super. 230, 2017 WL 3033795, 2017 Pa. Super. LEXIS 535, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/crespo-a-v-hughes-w-pasuperct-2017.