Emergency Medicine Associates of Jackson, PLLC v. Glover Ex Rel. Glover

189 So. 3d 1247, 2016 WL 1639666, 2016 Miss. App. LEXIS 239
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedApril 26, 2016
Docket2013-CA-00052-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 189 So. 3d 1247 (Emergency Medicine Associates of Jackson, PLLC v. Glover Ex Rel. Glover) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Mississippi primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Emergency Medicine Associates of Jackson, PLLC v. Glover Ex Rel. Glover, 189 So. 3d 1247, 2016 WL 1639666, 2016 Miss. App. LEXIS 239 (Mich. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinions

GRIFFIS, P.J.,

for the Court:

¶ 1. Anita Glover filed a medical-malpractice lawsuit on behalf of her son, Anthony Glover (Tony), for injuries he sustained from the application of a topical prescription drug. A jury returned a verdict finding Dr. John Brooks and Emergency Medicine Associates of Jackson (EMA) seventy-five percent liable and Marty’s Pharmacy1 twenty-five percent liable. The Hinds County Circuit Court reduced the amount of economic damages according tp the jury’s apportionment of fault and the noneconomic damages according to Mississippi Code Annotated section ll-l-60(b) (Rev.2014). Dr. Brooks and EMA appeal, and Anita cross-appeals. We find reversible error and remand for further proceedings.

FACTS

¶2. In November 2010, Tony complained of a persistent, itchy rash. ■ On November 23, 2010, Anita took Tony to the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC). A UMMC pediatric resident, Dr. Shameka Hudson, evaluated Tony in the emergency room. Dr. Hudson determined that Tony suffered from an allergic ■reaction, causing a rash and itching. Dr. Benjarnin Dillard, Dr. Hudson’s attending .physician, concurred with Dr. Hudson’s assessment. Dr. Hudson, prescribed an antihistamine and sent Tony home.

¶ 3. On December 4,2010, Tony continued to complain about the rash. Anita took him to the emergency room at Baptist Hospital, Dr. Brooks evaluated Tony, Dr. Brooks was an employee of EMA, and EMA had a contract with Baptist to staff its emergency room.

¶4. Dr. Brooks diagnosed Tony with molluscum contagiosum and dermatitis from Tony’s scratching. Molluscum conta-giosum is a viral infection of the skin, with small wart-like bumps that contain a central dimple. To treat the molluscum con-tagiosum, Dr. Brooks wrote a prescription for Verr-Canth. Dr. Brooks wrote on the prescription to “apply as directed by [the] pharmacy” and released Tony without further instructions on the medication.

¶5. Anita attempted to fill the Verr-Canth prescription at a retail pharmacy. [1251]*1251She was redirected to Marty’s Pharmacy, a specialty compounding pharmacy, because Verr-Canth was not commercially available. Anita took the prescription to Marty’s Pharmacy, which also stated it did not carry Verr-Canth. However, Marty’s Pharmacy could create or compound a similar medication using a substance called cantharidin.

¶ 6. Anna Heindl, a pharmacist at Marty’s Pharmacy, received the prescription. Heindl could not read the writing on the prescription, and she called Dr. Brooks to confirm the medication. When Dr. Brooks stated he wrote the prescription for Verr-Canth, Heindl replied she did not know about that particular medication. Dr. Brooks then recommended cantharidin and told Heindl to create a lotion, or solution if a lotion was not available, that contained 0.7% cantharidin. Dr. Brooks did not give any further instructions. Marty’s Pharmacy filled the prescription with instructions to “apply as directed” and to repeat' in three weeks.

¶7. On December 6, 2010, Anita applied the medication to Tony’s body. Anita used the medication generously and covered large parts of Tony’s torso, arms, and feet. Tony went to bed and woke up in the middle of the night with extreme pain and blistering of his,skin.

¶ 8. Anita- took Tony to Baptist again on December 7, 2010. Baptist transferred Tony to UMMC' for burn care. At UMMC, Dr. Kim Paduda assessed Tony. Dr. Paduda determined that Tony received burns from the -application of the medication. Dr. Paduda completed a thorough physical examination of Tony, but could not find any indications of molluscum con-tagiosum.

¶ 9. After providing initial treatment, Dr. Paduda decided to transfer Tony to a bum unit in Georgia for further care on December 8, 2010. The physicians in Georgia concluded that Tony suffered second degree-burns over sixteen percent of his body due to the use of the medication. Tony was released from the burn center on. December 11,2010.

¶ 10. On December 15, 2010, Tony began his follow-up treatment at Crossgates River Oaks Hospital with Dr. William Li-neaweaver as his physician., Tony visited Crossgates on December 22, ,2010, December 28, 2010, December 30, 2010, January 12, 2011, February 9, 2011, and May 11, 2011. The May 11, 2011 visit was the last time Tony sought medical treatment for the burns.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶ 11. On August 10, 2011, Anita commenced this action by filing a complaint in the First Judicial District of the Hinds County Circuit Court. The complaint asserted a claim for medical malpractice against Dr. Brooks and EMA, among other defendants.

¶ 12. A jury trial began on December 10, 2012. ■ The jury returned a verdict against Dr. Brooks and EMA. The jury awarded noneconomic damages of $2,000,000 and economic damages of $1,500,000. .The jury also assigned seventy-five percent of the negligence to Dr. Brooks and ■ EMA, and the jury assigned twenty-five percent to Marty’s. Pharmacy. The trial court entered a final judgment on December 20, 2012. In the judgment, the trial court reduced the damages by twenty-five percent to reflect this fault allocation to Marty’s Pharmacy and awarded $1,125,000 in economic and $1,500,000 in noneconomic damages.

¶ 13. Dr. Brooks filed a posttrial motion that included requests for a judgment notwithstanding the verdict (JNOV) or, in the alternative, ■ a new trial. The motion also asked that the judgment be modified [1252]*1252based on the application of the noneconomic-damages cap codified in Mississippi Code Annotated section ll-l-60(b). Anita argued the cap was unconstitutional and should not apply. Dr; Brooks and the Attorney General’s Office, as an interve-nor, argued in favor of the constitutionality of the statute. ,

¶ 14. On January 28, 2013, the trial court held a hearing on the motions. On September 6,2013, without deciding on the constitutional question of the caps, the trial court entered a final judgment that' granted the motion for a remittitur of the noneconomic damages, enforced the statutory cap of $500,000, and denied the other posttrial motions.

¶ 15. It is from this judgment that Dr. Brooks and EMA appeal. They raise six issues:

I. Whether [Dr. Brooks and EMA] were unfairly prejudiced by the refusal to require an independent medical exam, which was necessary to determine [Tony’s] true point of maximum medical improvement;
II. Whether [Dr. Brooks and EMA] were unfairly prejudiced by unreliable, inadmissible evidence of allegedly permanent physical impair- ■ ment and disability based upon the testimony of a former treating physician, Dr. Lineaweaver, who admitted not having followed [Tony] to the point of maximum medical improvement;
III. Whether the $1.5 million economic-damages award is supported by sufficient evidence or is against the overwhelming weight of the evidence;
IV. Whether [Tony’s] permanent physical impairment and disability and future-lost-wages claims should be reversed and rendered due to the complete failure of proof in support of the claims; ¡
V. Whether [Dr. Brooks and EMA] were improperly denied a superseding-cause instruction; and
VI. -In the alternative, whether noneco-nomic damages must be reduced in proportion to fault.

Anita has cross-appealed. She raises one issue:

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189 So. 3d 1247, 2016 WL 1639666, 2016 Miss. App. LEXIS 239, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/emergency-medicine-associates-of-jackson-pllc-v-glover-ex-rel-glover-missctapp-2016.