Gabriel v. Louisiana Organ Procurement Agency

48 So. 3d 1192, 10 La.App. 3 Cir. 251, 2010 La. App. LEXIS 1335, 2010 WL 3894004
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedOctober 6, 2010
Docket10-251
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 48 So. 3d 1192 (Gabriel v. Louisiana Organ Procurement Agency) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gabriel v. Louisiana Organ Procurement Agency, 48 So. 3d 1192, 10 La.App. 3 Cir. 251, 2010 La. App. LEXIS 1335, 2010 WL 3894004 (La. Ct. App. 2010).

Opinion

GENOVESE, Judge.

| plaintiffs, Derrick Gabriel and Patrick Gabriel, appeal the trial court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of Defendant, Louisiana Organ Procurement Agency (LOPA). For the following reasons, we affirm.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On January 5, 2006, Mabel Gabriel (Ms. Gabriel) was admitted to Lafayette General Medical Center (LGMC) in Lafayette, Louisiana, where it was determined that she was suffering from a massive cerebral hemorrhage. Ms. Gabriel became comatose, was placed on a respirator, and was declared brain-dead. Ms. Gabriel’s family then made the decision to donate her organs. Said donations were effectuated through LOPA.

According to Plaintiffs’ Petition for Damages filed on March 20, 2007, against LOPA and Dr. Thiagarajan Ramcharan, 1 “[i]n the process of organ harvest, the employees, agents[,] and actors on behalf of LOPA[,] spilled caustic substances onto Ms. Gabriel’s body causing disfiguring injuries to her body.” Pursuant to La.Civ. Code art. 2315.6, 2 Plaintiffs’ suit alleged that the “[djamages sustained ... |2include mental anguish associated with seeing their [mjother in a disfigured fashion, as well as having to conduct a funeral with a closed casket thereby not being able to properly experience the grieving process with the loss of their [mjother.”

Plaintiffs filed a First Supplemental and Amending Petition for Damages on June 30, 2008, wherein they alleged that “Dr. Ramcharan either enjoyed an employment relationship or an agency relationship with [LOPA].” Plaintiffs further asserted that “[i]n accordance with the provisions of [La. Civ.Code art.] 2320, 3 [LOPA] is answerable *1194 in solido with Dr. Ramcharan for his acts of negligence causing the injuries and disfigurement to [Ms.] Gabriel and the damages claimed by the [Plaintiffs herein.” Alternatively, Plaintiffs alleged that LOPA “provided professional liability insurance in force, effect, and in favor of the [Defendant, Dr. Thiagarajan Ramcharan. Accordingly, [LOPA] is duty[-]bound to indemnify and defend the physician for the injuries complained of herein.”

On August 22, 2008, LOPA filed an Answer to Petition for Damages and First Supplemental and Amending Petition for Damages denying Plaintiffs’ claims. On June 18, 2009, LOPA filed a Motion for Summary Judgment asserting that Dr. Ramcharan was not its employee; therefore, LOPA cannot be held liable for |sDr. Ramcharan’s actions. In support of its Motion for Summary Judgment, LOPA attached as exhibits: Exhibit A — Agreement for the Procurement of Organs and Tissue for Transplantation by and between LGMC and LOPA; Exhibit B — Plaintiffs’ Initial Complaint to the Commissioner of Administration, State of Louisiana Medical Review Panel (MRP); Exhibit C — Plaintiffs’ Amended Complaint to the Commissioner of Administration, State of Louisiana MRP; Exhibit D — the Opinion and Reasons for Opinion of the MRP dated March 18, 2008; Exhibit E — Plaintiffs’ Petition for Damages; Exhibit F — Plaintiffs’ First Supplemental and Amending Petition for Damages; and Exhibit G — Affidavit of Kelly Ranum, Executive Director of LOPA. The affidavit of Ms. Ranum attests, in pertinent part:

6. Dr. Thiagarajan Ramcharan is not an employee of LOPA.
7. There has never been a contract of employment between [LOPA] and Dr. Thiagarajan Ramcharan; and, more specifically, there was not a contract of employment or service contract in effect on or about January 5, 2006.
8. There has never been a service contract between [LOPA] and Dr. Thia-garajan Ramcharan; and, more specifically, there was not a contract of employment or service contract in effect on or about January 5, 2006.
9. There is no contractual relationship between LOPA and Dr. Ramcharan.
10. LOPA does not have any personnel records of Dr. Thiagarajan Ram-charan.
11. LOPA does not have any pay stubs, payment records[,] or wage records regarding Dr. Thiagarajan Ram-charan, including services performed in the organ recovery of Mabel Gabriel.
12. Dr. Ramcharan did not receive any compensation from LOPA for recovering Mabel Gabriel’s organs.
13. Dr. Ramcharan has never submitted a bill for services rendered for LOPA in the organ recovery of Mabel Gabriel.
|414. LOPA has never provided Dr. Ramcharan with staff support during the recovery of tissue or organs from organ donors in the form of surgical assistance, nursesf,] or couriers, etc.[,] and specifically did not provide such support during the recovery of Mable Gabriel’s organs.

In their opposition to LOPA’s motion, Plaintiffs relied upon LOPA’s offering of the Agreement for the Procurement of Organs and Tissue for Transplantation by and between LGMC and LOPA. Specifically, Plaintiffs relied heavily upon paragraph four therein, which states:

LOPA assures [LGMC] that it assumes total responsibility for the actions of LOPA personnel, and that said personnel are covered by organ and tissue *1195 professional liability insurance. LOPA will ensure only appropriately credentialed and qualified individuals will be used to perform organ and tissue retrievals. Physicians affiliated with LOPA will be licensed to practice medicine and qualified and trained to perform organ procurement services. These physicians must meet the qualifications established by LOPA, its Board of Directors and the United Network of Organ Sharing (UNOS). LOPA personnel will present [LGMC] with appropriate LOPA identification.

Plaintiffs argued that as a consequence of the agreement between LOPA and LGMC, “LOPA has agreed to provide liability insurance to indemnify the physician who made the error in this case. Therefore, irrespective of direct negligence on the part of any LOPA employee, LOPA is duty[-]bound pursuant to its indemnity agreement to provide indemnity, insurance, and defense for this matter.”

The matter was heard on August 24, 2009, at which time LOPA’s motion for summary judgment was granted. A judgment was signed by the trial court on September 8, 2009, and Plaintiffs have appealed therefrom.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR

In their sole assignment of error, Plaintiffs assert that “[t]he trial court erred in failing to find that an organ harvest surgeon dispatched by the Louisiana Organ Procurement Agency was not a physician ‘affiliated with LOPA ... ’ so as to activate |Rthe indemnification agreement that enured to the benefit of the patient and Plaintiffs.”

LAW AND DISCUSSION

Our Louisiana Supreme Court has instructed us on the standard of review relative to a motion for summary judgment as follows:

A motion for summary judgment is a procedural device used when there is no genuine issue of material fact for all or part of the relief prayed for by a litigant. Duncan v. U.S.A.A. Ins.

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48 So. 3d 1192, 10 La.App. 3 Cir. 251, 2010 La. App. LEXIS 1335, 2010 WL 3894004, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gabriel-v-louisiana-organ-procurement-agency-lactapp-2010.