E.P. ex rel. Portenier v. United States

835 F. Supp. 2d 1109, 2011 WL 6091743, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 141225
CourtDistrict Court, D. Kansas
DecidedDecember 7, 2011
DocketCase No. 09-cv-04163-JAR
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 835 F. Supp. 2d 1109 (E.P. ex rel. Portenier v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
E.P. ex rel. Portenier v. United States, 835 F. Supp. 2d 1109, 2011 WL 6091743, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 141225 (D. Kan. 2011).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

JULIE A. ROBINSON, District Judge.

This case involves a very tragic situation. Plaintiff E.P. endured such severe child abuse at the hands of his potential adoptive mother, Holly Bellinger, that he sustained catastrophic and permanent brain damage. Sadly, despite the concern, inquiry and examination by many individuals, including his biological mother, a doctor and nurse practitioner at Irwin Army Community Hospital (“IACH”), and a Riley County Health Department worker, Ms. Bellinger’s abuse continued over the course of E.P.’s first month of life. As a result, the once healthy baby boy now has cerebral palsy that will limit him for his entire life.

Plaintiff seeks damages from the United States of America under the Federal Torts Claims Act (“FTCA”) for injuries that Plaintiff sustained from Ms. Bellinger’s abuse, alleging that the doctor and nurse practitioner who examined him at his two-week well-baby exam at IACH failed to diagnose and treat him for child abuse. The case is now before the Court on Plaintiffs Motion to Exclude Defendant’s Evidence of E.P.’s Life Expectancy (Doc. 110), Motion for Partial Summary Judgment (Doc. 122), and Motion to Amend Pretrial Order (Doc. 136) and Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss or, in the Alternative, Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 133). As described more fully below, while the Court is sympathetic for the grievous harm done to this innocent child, E.P., the Court nonetheless must grant Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss or, in the Alternative, Motion for Summary Judgment because the doctor and nurse practitioner committed no medical negligence, for their legal duty to diagnose and treat E.P. did not extend to reporting any suspected child abuse. Because the Court grants Defendant summary judgment, the Court denies Plaintiffs Motion to Exclude Defendant’s Evidence of E.P.’s Life Expectancy, Motion for Partial Summary Judgment, and Motion to Amend Pretrial Order as moot.

I. Defining Plaintiffs Claims

Before discussing the merit of the motions, the Court must determine the extent of Plaintiffs claims. The parties have been in dispute about the scope of Plaintiffs allegations. Within Plaintiffs response to Defendant’s motion for summary [1111]*1111judgment and Plaintiffs motion for leave to amend, Plaintiff has withdrawn or narrowed the scope of his allegations. Plaintiff, for example, withdrew his claim alleging Defendant negligently discharged Plaintiff from the hospital to the custody of Holly Bellinger and also withdrew allegations of negligence on the part of Kim Kluesner. The Plaintiff has further narrowed his claim from that outlined in the Pretrial Order by stating that he only claims medical negligence by Dr. Thomas Talbot and nurse practitioner Captain Wayne Darsow for failure to diagnose and treat child abuse:

The only allegation plaintiff makes is that a health care provider be required to meet the accepted standard of care in his diagnosis of a patient and in his treatment of the patient. Plaintiffs evidence will be that, if Captain Darsow and Dr. Talbot had followed the accepted standard of medical care, they would have made the proper diagnosis that E.P.’s bruises were caused by child abuse. They then would have followed the accepted standard of medical care in reporting their diagnosis of child abuse and the mandated investigation would then have ensued.1

Plaintiff makes clear that he withdraws every other theory of recovery besides the medical negligence claim described above. And so, the Court dismisses all other claims. Thus, the only claim before the Court is Captain Darsow’s and Dr. Talbot’s medical negligence in failing to diagnosis and treat Plaintiffs child abuse.

II. Motion to Dismiss

Defendant moves to dismiss all claims other than those against Dr. Talbot and Captain Darsow because Plaintiff did not properly exhaust the other claims as required under the FTCA. Because the claims were not exhausted, Defendant argues, the Court has no subject matter jurisdiction over those claims. As described above, however, Plaintiff has withdrawn all claims other than those for medical negligence against Dr. Talbot and Captain Darsow, and the Court has dismissed those claims. As a result, Defendant’s argument that the Court must dismiss those claims for lack of subject matter jurisdiction is moot.

III. Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment

The Court .next examines Defendant’s motion for summary judgment. Defendant argues that it is entitled to judgment as a matter of law because Dr. Talbot and Captain Darsow did not owe Plaintiff a legal duty to protect him from harm by a third party. Plaintiff, on the other hand, claims that Dr. Talbot and Captain Darsow had a duty to protect him from harm within their duty to diagnose and treat him.

A. Summary Judgment Standard of Review

Summary judgment is appropriate if the moving party demonstrates that there is “no genuine dispute as to any material fact” and that it is “entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.”2 In applying this standard, the Court views the evidence and all reasonable inferences therefrom in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party.3 A fact is “material” if, under the applicable substantive law, it is “essential to the proper disposition of the claim.”4 [1112]*1112An issue of fact is “genuine” if “there is sufficient evidence on each side so that a rational trier of fact could resolve the issue either way.”5

The moving party initially must show the absence of a genuine issue of material fact and entitlement to judgment as a matter of law.6 In attempting to meet this standard, a movant that does not bear the ultimate burden of persuasion at trial need not negate the other party’s claim; rather, the movant need simply point out to the court a lack of evidence for the other party on an essential element of that party’s claim.7

Once the movant has met this initial burden, the burden shifts to the nonmoving party to “set forth specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial.”8 The nonmoving party may not simply rest upon its pleadings to satisfy its burden.9 Rather, the nonmoving party must “set forth specific facts that would be admissible in evidence in the event of trial from which a rational trier of fact could find for the nonmovant.” 10 To accomplish this, the facts “must be identified by reference to an affidavit, a deposition transcript, or a specific exhibit incorporated therein.”11 Rule 56(c)(4) provides that opposing affidavits must be made on personal knowledge and shall set forth such facts as would be admissible in evidence.12 The non-moving party cannot avoid summary judgment by repeating conclusory opinions, allegations unsupported by specific facts, or speculation.13

Finally, summary judgment is not a “disfavored procedural shortcut”; on the contrary, it is an important procedure “designed to secure the just, speedy and inexpensive determination of every action.” 14

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
835 F. Supp. 2d 1109, 2011 WL 6091743, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 141225, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ep-ex-rel-portenier-v-united-states-ksd-2011.