Gomez v. Tri City Community Hospital, Ltd.

4 S.W.3d 281, 1999 WL 323302
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJuly 6, 1999
Docket04-98-00613-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by29 cases

This text of 4 S.W.3d 281 (Gomez v. Tri City Community Hospital, Ltd.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gomez v. Tri City Community Hospital, Ltd., 4 S.W.3d 281, 1999 WL 323302 (Tex. Ct. App. 1999).

Opinions

OPINION

Opinion by:

PHIL HARDBERGER, Chief Justice.

Appellants appeal a summary judgment in favor of appellee, Tri City Community Hospital, Ltd. (“Hospital”), in a medical malpractice action. The trial court granted a no-evidence summary judgment on the element of causation. Appellants assert that the trial court erred in granting the judgment. We reverse the trial court’s judgment and remand the cause to the trial court for trial.

Factual and PROCEDURAL History

On April 20, 1995, Jeronimo Carrasco (“Carrasco”) was taken to the emergency room of the Hospital by ambulance complaining of back pain. He was admitted for observation, then released on April 21, 1995. He was still complaining of back pain at the time of his release.

On April 22, 1995, Carrasco returned to the Hospital complaining of continued back pain and the inability to stand. Carrasco further complained that he had not had a bowel movement in four days. A chest x-ray was taken on April 22, 1995. The x-ray revealed a “significantly widened me-diastinum” and “an increase in the size of the cardiac silhouette.”

On April 24, 1995, a radiologist reviewed the x-ray and dictated his report. In addition to reporting what the x-ray revealed, the report stated: “In the setting of back pain consideration should be given for aortic dissection.” The report states: “Ward notified 4-24-95.”

[283]*283Sometime on April 24, 1995, Carrasco’s condition deteriorated, and he was air lifted to Methodist Hospital in San Antonio. A CT scan revealed a type I dissecting aneurysm of the thoracic aorta. Carrasco underwent emergency surgery, and the surgeons found a ruptured dissecting aneurysm of the thoracic aorta. The surgeons were able to replace the ascending aorta with a synthetic graft, and the patient was fairly stable following the surgery. The following day, Carrasco suffered another pericardial effusion with tamponade. Emergency surgery was undertaken, and a new bleeding site into the pericardium was found with “abundant blood” in the left chest. Resuscitative efforts were not successful, and Carrasco died.

Appellants sued the Hospital and the emergency room physician. The appellants settled with the physician. The Hospital filed a motion for summary judgment asserting several grounds. The trial court’s judgment reflects that the Hospital advised the trial court at the hearing on its motion that it was waiving all summary judgment claims except its “no-evidence” claim. The no-evidence claim contained within the Hospital’s motion asserts that appellants failed to present any evidence of proximate cause between the Hospital’s alleged breach of the standard of care and appellants’ injuries. The trial court granted summary judgment on this ground, and appellants timely perfected this appeal.

Standard op Review

We apply the same legal sufficiency standard in reviewing a no-evidence summary judgment as we apply in reviewing a directed verdict. Moore v. K Mart Corp., 981 S.W.2d 266, 269 (Tex.App.—San Antonio 1998, pet. denied); Judge David Hittner & Lynne Liberato, No-Evidence Summary Judgments Under the New Rule, in State Bar of Texas Prof. Dev. Program, 20 Advanoed Civil Trial Course D, D-5 (1997). We look at the evidence in the light most favorable to the respondent against whom the summary judgment was rendered, disregarding all contrary evidence and inferences. Moore, 981 S.W.2d at 269; Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc. v. Havner, 958 S.W.2d 706, 711 (Tex.1997), cert. denied, 523 U.S. 1119, 118 S.Ct. 1799, 140 L.Ed.2d 989 (1998). A no-evidence summary judgment is improperly granted if the respondent brings forth more than a scintilla of probative evidence to raise a genuine issue of material fact. Moore, 981 S.W.2d at 269; Tex.R. Civ. P. 166a(i). Less than a scintilla of evidence exists when the evidence is “so weak as to do no more than create a mere surmise or suspicion” of a fact. Kindred v. Con/Chem, Inc., 650 S.W.2d 61, 63 (Tex.1983). More than a scintilla of evidence exists when the evidence “rises to a level that would enable reasonable and fair-minded people to differ in their conclusions.” Havner, 953 S.W.2d at 711.

Evidence Before the Trial Court

The parties initially disagree regarding the evidence that was before the trial court. The appellants contend that the deposition testimony of Dr. Leah Raye Mabry, Diana Benad, and Dr. Raymond G. Armstrong was before the trial court based on the appellants’ notice of intention to use evidence not on file. The Hospital responds that the deposition testimony was not before the trial court because the appellants failed to file the discovery materials referenced in their notice prior to the trial court’s hearing. We agree with the Hospital.

Rule 166a(d) permits discovery products not on file with the clerk to be used as summary judgment evidence if a notice containing specific references to the discovery is filed and served on all parties together with a statement of intent to use the specified discovery as summary judgment proofs at least seven days before the hearing if such proofs are to be used to oppose the summary judgment. Tex.R. Civ. P. 166a(d). The comment to the rule states that such proofs must be filed in [284]*284advance of the hearing in accordance with rule 166a. Tex.R. Civ. P. 166a cmt.1990. At least two courts of appeals have refused to consider such proofs if the appellate record did not demonstrate that the evidence was filed with the trial court when the trial court’s order on the motion for summary judgment was entered. See Salmon v. Miller, 958 S.W.2d 424, 427-29 (Tex.App.—Texarkana 1997, pet. denied); E.B. Smith Co. v. U.S. Fidelity & Guar. Co., 850 S.W.2d 621, 623-24 (Tex.App.—Corpus Christi 1993, writ denied); see also Timothy Patton, Summary Judgments in Texas § 6.04[1], at 74-75 & Supp. 46-49 (2d ed. 1995 & Supp.1998); but see Grainger v. Western Cas. Life Ins. Co., 930 S.W.2d 609, 613-14 (Tex.App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 1996, writ denied) (holding failure to object to method by which party submitted copies of excerpts waived party’s failure to file proofs with trial court). We agree with the reasoning of the Texar-kana and Corpus Christi courts of appeals and hold that the deposition testimony was not properly before the trial court for consideration.

Evidence of Proximate Causation

Having determined that the deposition testimony was not properly before the trial court, the only evidence the trial court could consider was the affidavits and medical records attached to the appellants’ response to the Hospital’s motion for summary judgment. We must now determine whether that evidence constituted more than a scintilla of probative evidence sufficient to raise a genuine issue of material fact as to the proximate cause element of the appellants’ cause of action.

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4 S.W.3d 281, 1999 WL 323302, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gomez-v-tri-city-community-hospital-ltd-texapp-1999.