Crisostomo v. Stanley

857 F.2d 1146, 1988 WL 98963
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
DecidedSeptember 19, 1988
DocketNo. 88-1035
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 857 F.2d 1146 (Crisostomo v. Stanley) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Crisostomo v. Stanley, 857 F.2d 1146, 1988 WL 98963 (7th Cir. 1988).

Opinion

RIPPLE, Circuit Judge.

In this diversity case, Santiago Crisosto-mo, M.D., and his wife, Flor de Liza Crisos-tomo, M.D., brought an action against Charles 0. Stanley, M.D., the Stanley Medical Group, Ltd. (Stanley Group) and the Burroughs Wellcome Company (BWC) for injuries sustained when Dr. Santiago Cri-sostomo took the prescription drug Zylo-prim.1 The Crisostomos’ claims against Dr. Stanley and the Stanley Group were based on a theory of medical malpractice resulting from Dr. Stanley's treatment of Dr. Crisostomo. The Crisostomos’ claims against BWC, the manufacturer of Zylo-prim, were based on a theory of strict liability. At the close of the plaintiffs’ ease-in-chief, the district court struck the Crisostomos’ specific allegations of malpractice. It then granted a directed verdict for all the defendants. We reverse as to Dr. Stanley and the Stanley Group, but affirm as to BWC.

I

Background

Since this case was terminated at the end of the plaintiffs’ case, our rendition of the facts is necessarily limited to the record developed up to that point. In December 1976, after playing tennis, Dr. Santiago Crisostomo complained of pain in his big toe. After first consulting an orthopedist, Dr. Crisostomo met with his internist, Dr. Stanley. Dr. Stanley diagnosed an acute attack of gout, for which he prescribed the drug Indocin. A few days later, Dr. Stanley and Dr. Crisostomo met by chance in the hospital where they both worked.2 Dr. [1148]*1148Stanley briefly examined Dr. Crisostomo’s toe and wrote out a prescription for Zylo-prim and Colchicine to treat the gout. Although he mentioned that Colchicine can cause stomach upset, Dr. Stanley did not warn of any side effects with respect to Zyloprim.

Dr. Crisostomo began taking the new medication on January 1, 1977. On January 6, he noticed mouth sores and later experienced chills. Dr. Crisostomo testified that, when he notified Dr. Stanley of these symptoms by telephone, Dr. Stanley advised him to “sit tight.” Dr. Crisostomo stopped taking the Colchicine at this point. The next day, his chills and mouth sores continued to bother him and Dr. Crisosto-mo worried that he might have contracted diphtheria, a disease he often had seen in his native country, the Phillipines. That evening, in order to counteract the possible onset of diphtheria, Dr. Crisostomo took some penicillin V which had been prescribed for his son on a prior occasion.

When Dr. Crisostomo awoke on January 8, his mouth was very sore. In addition, his eyes were in such pain that he could hardly open them. Dr. Stanley agreed to meet Dr. Crisostomo in the hospital’s emergency room. An examination of Dr. Cri-sostomo’s upper chest revealed crusty skin lesions, a condition Dr. Stanley diagnosed as Stevens-Johnson Syndrome.3 At that point, Dr. Stanley discontinued the Zylo-prim treatment and ordered that penicillin be administered along with corticosteroids. At about the same time, Dr. Carney, a dermatologist, began treating Dr. Crisosto-mo.

During Dr. Crisostomo’s hospitalization, the skin lesions spread over his entire body. His vision also diminished, even though Dr. Crisostomo was under an ophthalmologist’s care.4 By the time of his release from the hospital on January 28, 1977, the corneas of Dr. Crisostomo’s eyes had scarred and his tear ducts had been damaged. Dr. Cri-sostomo’s eyesight is now 20:200 in one eye and 20:100 in the other. He complains that he is unable to tolerate bright light and that his eyes are always painful. He further contends that his eye problems have prevented him from returning to his profession and that his wife has had to give up her psychiatric practice to care for him in his depressed state.

The Crisostomos filed this suit on January 2, 1979. In their third amended complaint, they alleged that Dr. Crisostomo suffered Stevens-Johnson Syndrome as a result of his taking the drug Zyloprim. Counts I and II sought damages on behalf of Dr. Crisostomo for his injuries, and on behalf of his wife for loss of consortium, against Dr. Stanley and the Stanley Group5 under a theory of medical malpractice. The complaint alleged that Dr. Stanley had failed to perform certain diagnostic tests and that the dosage for Zyloprim was excessive. It also charged that Dr. Stanley had failed to provide any warnings with respect to the drug’s use and its side effects, and that his post-diagnostic care was deficient.

In support of these claims, the Crisosto-mos offered the testimony of Mark Jarrett, M.D., an internist. Dr. Jarrett stated that Zyloprim should be prescribed for only ten [1149]*1149percent of those patients who have a predisposition to gout. To identify these patients, Dr. Jarrett recommended that a doctor perform two diagnostic tests, a synovial fluid test and a 24-hour urine test. Dr. Stanley did not perform either of these two tests. On cross-examination, Dr. Jarrett agreed that the average physician does not normally conduct a synovial fluid test. He also conceded that the 24-hour urine test was not diagnostic of gout.

Dr. Jarrett testified that Zyloprim should be given only to those patients who exhibit chronic symptoms of gout, not merely one acute attack. He also found the dosage prescribed by Dr. Stanley of 300 mg./day to be excessive. He recommended instead that an initial dosage should be no greater than 100 mg./day. Dr. Jarrett admitted, however, that he had no way of knowing whether the dosage was a contributing factor in producing the Stevens-Johnson Syndrome. Nonetheless, Dr. Jarrett stated that a doctor initially should warn of a prescription drug’s side effects and that, once he learns of a patient’s adverse reaction, the doctor should advise the patient to stop taking the medication.

In Counts III and IV, the Crisostomos alleged that BWC, as the manufacturer of the Zyloprim, was strictly liable for Dr. Crisostomo’s injuries and his wife’s loss of consortium. The Crisostomos alleged that BWC knew or should have known that penicillin, when combined with Zyloprim, increases the occurrence of, or aggravates the symptoms of, Stevens-Johnson Syndrome. In this regard, the Crisostomos offered the testimony of Dr. James O’Donnell.6 Dr. O’Donnell testified that the ingestion of Zyloprim alone had caused Dr. Crisostomo to contract Stevens-Johnson Syndrome. However, Dr. O’Donnell indicated that, based on his knowledge of clinical cases and research reports, the combined use of ampicillin, a type of penicillin, and Zyloprim increases the likelihood of a drug-induced rash.7 He also stated that the condition of a patient who already had contracted Stevens-Johnson Syndrome could be aggravated by the ingestion of penicillin. According to Dr. O’Donnell, all penicillins work in approximately the same manner and the effects reported from the interaction of ampicillin and Zyloprim would probably extend to other penicillins. He conceded, however, that the reports only discussed the interaction of ampicillin and Zyloprim, and that no extrapolation from the data could be made to other peni-cillins and Zyloprim.

Dr. O’Donnell agreed that the Zyloprim label had warned that Stevens-Johnson Syndrome could result from use of the drug. However, he testified that, in 1976, the label failed to warn of either the increased incidence of rash or the aggravation of Stevens-Johnson Syndrome when the drug is used in combination with peni-cillins.8 On cross-examination, Dr.

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Crisostomo v. Stanley
857 F.2d 1146 (Seventh Circuit, 1988)

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Bluebook (online)
857 F.2d 1146, 1988 WL 98963, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/crisostomo-v-stanley-ca7-1988.