Edwards v. Erdey

2001 Ohio 4367, 770 N.E.2d 672, 118 Ohio Misc. 2d 232
CourtCourt of Common Pleas of Ohio, Franklin County, Civil Division
DecidedNovember 28, 2001
DocketNo. 00 CVA 07-6754
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 2001 Ohio 4367 (Edwards v. Erdey) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Common Pleas of Ohio, Franklin County, Civil Division primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Edwards v. Erdey, 2001 Ohio 4367, 770 N.E.2d 672, 118 Ohio Misc. 2d 232 (Ohio Super. Ct. 2001).

Opinion

Lisa L. Sadler, Judge.

{¶ 1} This matter is before the court on the motion to dismiss filed by defendants Cayman Surgical Group, Ltd., and Steven L. Ziemba (hereinafter collectively “the Cayman defendants”). The motion has been fully briefed and, pursuant to Loe. R. 21.01, is deemed submitted for decision.

I. Introduction

{¶ 2} Plaintiff Kathryn L. Edwards (hereinafter “plaintiff’) was diagnosed with severe myopia or nearsightedness. Hoping to find an alternative to wearing glasses or contact lenses, she sought an evaluation from defendant Richard A. Erdey, M.D., in Columbus, Ohio (“defendant Erdey”). Defendant Erdey discussed with plaintiff the option of intraocular lenses, or “ICL,”1 which are essentially contact lenses that are surgically implanted onto the lens of the eye. According to the parties, the intraocular lens procedure has been approved in Europe but has not yet completed clinical trials or been approved for use in this country by the United States Food and Drug Administration. Because plaintiffs age precluded her participation in ongoing FDA clinical trials, defendant Erdey recommended that she contact the Cayman defendants. Defendant Cayman Surgical Group offers the intraocular lens procedure in the Cayman Islands, a British territory in the Caribbean Sea.

{¶ 3} Plaintiff visited the website of defendant Cayman Surgical Group at www.phirst.com.2 Through an e-mail link on the website, plaintiff on June 24, 1999, sent a general inquiry regarding Cayman Surgical Group, its doctors, its procedures, and its prices. Defendant Ziemba responded to plaintiffs inquiry by reply e-mail that same day, and subsequently plaintiff and defendant Ziemba exchanged a series of e-mails culminating in the scheduling of plaintiffs ICL surgery with Cayman Surgical Group in the Cayman Islands on August 20, 1999. The fee for plaintiffs surgery was $2,615 per eye.

{¶ 4} The procedure established by the Cayman defendants was as follows: Before traveling to the Cayman Islands, plaintiff had an appointment with [237]*237defendant Erdey in Columbus. Defendant Erdey performed an iridotomy — a surgical procedure in which a laser is used to make two small holes in the iris of each eye — on plaintiff in order to prevent the buildup of intraocular fluid following the implantation of the ICL. Defendant Erdey was also to perform plaintiffs followup care in Columbus after her return from surgery in the Cayman Islands. Defendant Erdey’s fee for these services — $1,000—was included in the $2,615 per eye charged to plaintiff by defendant Cayman Surgical Group.

{¶ 5} Following the iridotomy by defendant Erdey in Columbus, plaintiff flew to the Cayman Islands for the intraocular lens procedure. According to plaintiff, she was transported to “a small storefront in a nondescript strip mall.” There, she was administered eyedrops that dilated her eyes and then was given a 12-page “consent form” to read and sign. After signing the form, plaintiff was taken into surgery.

{¶ 6} Plaintiffs surgery was performed by Dr. David Brown. Dr. Brown was one of several doctors selected by defendant Ziemba to periodically travel from the United States to the Cayman Islands for the sole purpose of performing the intraocular lens procedure for the Cayman Surgical Group. According to defendant Ziemba’s deposition testimony, the Cayman Surgical Group maintained no permanent staff or physicians in the Cayman Islands. In fact, on days when patients were scheduled for a surgical procedure, the company leased its facility in the Cayman Islands on an hourly basis.

{¶ 7} According to plaintiffs affidavit, after the surgery her vision in both eyes was initially blurry. By the afternoon of the next day the vision in her right eye had cleared. Two days after the surgery, however, plaintiff was experiencing a headache and worsening vision in her left eye. She returned to see another ophthalmologist associated with the Cayman defendants, who treated her for increasing intraocular pressure and recommended that she fly home immediately.

{¶ 8} On her return flight to Ohio, plaintiff became very ill. Upon her arrival at Port Columbus International Airport, she was taken to the emergency room at Mount Carmel Hospital, where she was given intravenous medication and was told to return the next morning for another iridotomy with defendant Erdey. That procedure was performed by defendant Erdey the next day and successfully relieved the increased intraocular pressure. Subsequently, however, plaintiff developed a cataract in her left eye and has allegedly suffered permanent decreased vision in that eye due to the prolonged period of increased intraocular pressure.

{¶ 9} Plaintiff filed the instant action in July 2000 and seeks damages from defendants on various tort theories. Defendant Erdey has filed a cross-claim against the Cayman defendants for indemnification and/or contribution. The [238]*238Cayman defendants now move to dismiss plaintiffs complaint for lack of personal jurisdiction and failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.

II. The Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Personal Jurisdiction

{¶ 10} When determining whether a state court has personal jurisdiction over a foreign corporation, the court is obligated to engage in a two-step analysis. First, the court must determine whether the state’s “long-arm” statute and applicable civil rule confer personal jurisdiction. If so, the court must then consider whether finding jurisdiction under the statute and the rule would deprive the defendant of the right to due process of law pursuant to the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. U.S. Sprint Communications Co. Ltd. Partnership v. Mr. K’s Foods, Inc. (1994), 68 Ohio St.3d 181, 183-184, 624 N.E.2d 1048.

A. Jurisdiction Under Ohio’s Long-Arm Statute

{¶ 11} Plaintiff asserts that jurisdiction is proper under subsection (A)(1) of Ohio’s long-arm statute, R.C. 2307.382. That subsection provides:

{¶ 12} “(A) A court may exercise personal jurisdiction over a person who acts directly or by an agent, as to a cause of action arising from the person’s:
{¶ 13} “(1) Transacting any business in this state[.]”

{¶ 14} The Supreme Court of Ohio, in Mr. K’s Foods, supra, observed the following:

{¶ 15} “Under R.C. 2307.382(A)(1), a foreign corporation submits to the personal jurisdiction of an Ohio court if its activities lead to ‘[t]ransacting any business’ (emphasis added) in Ohio. Because it is such a broad statement of jurisdiction, R.C. 2307.382(A)(1) has given rise to a variety of cases which ‘have reached their results on highly particularized fact situations, thus rendering any generalization unwarranted.’ 22 Ohio Jurisprudence 3d (1980) 430, Courts and Judges, Section 280. With no better guideline than the bare wording of the statute to establish whether a nonresident is transacting business in Ohio, the court must, therefore, rely on a case-by-case determination.” Id. at 185, 624 N.E.2d 1048.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2001 Ohio 4367, 770 N.E.2d 672, 118 Ohio Misc. 2d 232, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/edwards-v-erdey-ohctcomplfrankl-2001.