Depper v. Nakada

558 S.W.2d 192, 1 A.L.R. 4th 222, 1977 Mo. App. LEXIS 2265
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedJune 21, 1977
DocketNo. 36776
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 558 S.W.2d 192 (Depper v. Nakada) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Depper v. Nakada, 558 S.W.2d 192, 1 A.L.R. 4th 222, 1977 Mo. App. LEXIS 2265 (Mo. Ct. App. 1977).

Opinions

RENDLEN, Judge.

James R. Nakada, Executor of the Estate of the Deceased, Fred Emmert, M.D., appeals from the judgment awarding plaintiff $25,000 for Emmert’s medical malpractice. We affirm.

In May of 1945, plaintiff suffered throm-bophlebitis in her left leg and was bedridden for approximately eight weeks. The swelling and soreness of the leg disappeared three weeks later and she had no “flare-up” or recurrence of the condition until July 1966. Plaintiff consulted Dr. Emmert professionally in October 1945 and continued as his patient until 1966, except for a period 1963 to 1965 when he temporarily retired from practice. As early as 1955, while attending the birth of plaintiff’s son, Emmert was made aware of her history of thrombo-phlebitis.

In June of 1966, Dr. Emmert prescribed medication for plaintiff’s overweight condition “[a]nd maybe some blood pressure, but mainly weight conditions.” Certain treatment consisting of three alleged injections of mercuhydrin which gave rise to this litigation was administered in July of that year.

Plaintiff’s husband testified1 she received an injection on July 6 and shortly thereafter her arm and shoulder became sore, “swollen, discolored and the skin looked kind of shiny like . . . .” A second injection on July 13 was followed by a reaction in plaintiff’s left leg with symptoms similar to those observed in the arm. After a third visit to Dr. Emmert and a third injection on July 20 or 21, plaintiff» became ill and in a few days her left leg was painfully swollen and feverish. On July 26, 1966, plaintiff consulted Dr. Allen Klippel and was admitted to St. Luke’s Hospital August 2 where she remained under treatment for five days. After her release plaintiff continued to experience discomfort and occasionally inflammation accompanied by severe pain in her leg.

In July, 1966 Dr. Emmert knew of Mrs. Depper’s prior disabling experience with thrombophlebitis and her predisposition to this ailment. It is also undisputed that mercuhydrin can trigger allergic reactions, typically thrombophlebitis in one with Mrs. Depper’s medical history. Dr. Emmert apparently realized this because the first shot of mercuhydrin administered on July 6, 1966 was a small test dose of ½ c.c. Throm-bophlebitic symptoms soon appeared and though they persisted he administered a second and later a third shot of the offending drug eventuating in her hospitalization.

Plaintiff and her husband filed suit jointly for malpractice on February 2, 1969, but dismissed that action without prejudice after Emmert’s death in 1970. In the present suit plaintiff’s husband dismissed his claim at the commencement of trial for the announced purpose of avoiding disqualification of his testimony under the Missouri Dead Man’s Statute, § 491.010. The cause was tried and a plaintiffs verdict rendered.

Defendant for his allegation of error, contends: (1) the evidence was insufficient to establish any negligent act or omission of Dr. Emmert as a cause of plaintiff’s throm-bophlebitis because plaintiff’s medical expert testimony did not establish negligence or causal connection between Emmert’s [194]*194treatment and plaintiffs phlebitis; (2) the trial court erred permitting plaintiffs expert witness to express opinions based upon the hypothetical questions addressed to him, as facts assumed in those questions were not supported by the evidence; and (3) the trial court erred in permitting Earl Dep-«per’s testimony as to conversations with Dr. Emmert.

In ruling defendant’s challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence in this jury-tried case, we consider “the evidence in the light most favorable to plaintiff. The evidence favorable to plaintiff is considered as true, and plaintiff is given the benefit of every reasonable inference therefrom; and defendant’s evidence, unfavorable to plaintiff, is disregarded.” Boyd v. Terminal Railroad Ass’n of St. Louis, 289 S.W.2d 33, 35[1] (Mo.1956). The plaintiff is entitled to a view of the evidence “from a viewpoint most favorable to plaintiff and [we] give plaintiff the benefit of every reasonable inference which the evidence tends to support . . . . On the other hand, we disregard defendant’s evidence unless it aids plaintiff’s case.” Wardenburg v. White, 518 S.W.2d 152, 154[1] (Mo.App.1974). Guided by these standards we examine appellant’s second allegation of error concerning sufficiency of the proof of facts assumed in the hypothetical questions propounded to plaintiff’s expert Dr. Barrow. Barrow had been plaintiff’s treating physician after her hospitalization in July 1966. The hypothetical questions propounded and the answers concerning Emmert’s negligence were as follows:

“Q. Now, Doctor, ... I want you to assume that the plaintiff was injected with a drug . . . called mercuhyd-rin; that she received three injections, one on July 6, 1966, one on July 13, 1966, and one on July 21, 1966 . . . that the sole reason for Mrs. Depper being treated at this particular time was for weight loss and that she was being treated, as her history explained to you, by Dr. Fred Emmert . . . Now, Doctor, . Do you have an opinion based upon a reasonable degree of medical certainty as to whether or not Dr. Emmert used that degree of skill and learning ordinarily used by other doctors in 1966 under the same or similar circumstances by using this drug for weight loss? (Emphasis added.)
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A. I have an opinion, yes.
Q. Would you tell us what that opinion is please?
A. That mercuhydrin — that at that time and now, mercuhydrin would not be considered an appropriate drug for treatment of excessive weight or obesity.
Q. . The question is, based on a reasonable degree of medical certainty, whether or not you feel that Dr. Emmert was exercising that degree of skill and learning normally exercised by other doctors in 1966 under the same or similar circumstances .
A. Not in giving three injections of mer-cuhydrin for weight reduction.”

Testifying further, the witness described mercuhydrin as a drug ordinarily used as a diuretic in treatment of heart failure but not as treatment for obesity. He explained that in some instances the drug produced undesirable effects such as patient dehydration, allergic reaction, hives or skin rashes and these effects “[ujsually occur after the drug had been used more than once.”

The witness was then asked by hypothetical question for his opinion of the causal relation between the treatment administered and plaintiff’s thrombophlebitis.

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Bluebook (online)
558 S.W.2d 192, 1 A.L.R. 4th 222, 1977 Mo. App. LEXIS 2265, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/depper-v-nakada-moctapp-1977.