Hahn v. St. Luke's Hospital

57 Pa. D. & C.4th 353, 2002 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 133
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Lehigh County
DecidedMay 2, 2002
Docketno. 1999-C-1375V
StatusPublished

This text of 57 Pa. D. & C.4th 353 (Hahn v. St. Luke's Hospital) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Lehigh County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hahn v. St. Luke's Hospital, 57 Pa. D. & C.4th 353, 2002 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 133 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2002).

Opinion

FORD, J.,

This is a medical malpractice case wherein the jury ruled in favor of the defendant hospital. We denied post-trial motions. A timely appeal to the Superior Court followed. Because of the appeal, we file this opinion to explain the reasons for denial of the post-trial motions.

A significant trial ruling was made which permitted the defense to introduce evidence that the plaintiff, Anthony Granata, was declared disabled by the Social Security Administration prior to the alleged injury in this case, and that Mr. Granata was eligible for Social Security benefits as a result of that declaration of incapacity. Our ruling on this issue was the crux of the post-trial motions and is the crux of the appeal to the Superior Court.

PROCEDURAL AND FACTUAL HISTORY

Suit was brought by Dorothy Hahn on behalf of Anthony Granata. Dorothy Hahn is the guardian of the estate and person of Anthony Granata. She is also his sister.

[355]*355Anthony Granata is mentally retarded with Down’s syndrome. He was admitted to the defendant hospital on September 22, 1997, with a critical, unrelated, left subdural hematoma. He was successfully treated for the presenting problem. However, the plaintiff’s evidence showed that hospital personnel accidentally left a tourniquet on Mr. Granata’s arm which caused permanent injury to the arm and other permanent injuries about the body. Plaintiff presented evidence that Mr. Granata was permanently disabled from working as a result of the tourniquet injuries.

A number of months after Mr. Granata’s hospital stay, his guardian applied on his behalf for Social Security benefits. He was granted benefits, effective September 1,1997, a date which was several weeks before the tourniquet incident. The Social Security Administration found Mr. Granata disabled, not as a result of the injury to the arm, but rather because of his mental condition.

The jury trial was conducted from May 30, 2001 to June 6,2001. In response to interrogatories, the jury found that, although the hospital was negligent, the negligence was not a substantial factor in bringing about plaintiff’s injuries. The court entered a molded verdict in favor of the defendant and against the plaintiff.

The first witness for the plaintiff at trial was Dorothy Hahn. We initially ruled that defense counsel could not inquire of her about the finding of disability made by the Social Security Administration. However, after reflection, we believed our ruling to be in error. Accordingly, we reversed it sua sponte. This resulted in Ms. Hahn’s being recalled to the stand and, in response to defense questions, acknowledging the finding of disability by the [356]*356Social Security Administration, effective a few weeks before the allegedly disabling tourniquet injury. As correctly noted by plaintiff’s counsel in the brief in support of the post-trial motions, the disability found by the Social Security Administration was used by defense counsel to discredit the testimony of plaintiff’s economic expert, Mr. Andrew Verzilli.

The plaintiff argued that our ruling permitting the admission into evidence of the Social Security Administration’s finding of disability was error. Plaintiff claimed that the mistake was compounded by the judge’s instruction that was given on the issue of disability. We quote from the portion of the charge that addressed this issue.

“As I told you earlier, if you find that one of the defendant’s nurses was negligent in regard to a tourniquet, this issue of disability must then be decided by you. In deciding if the plaintiff is disabled due to the incidents alleged here with the tourniquet, consider all of the evidence that was admitted for your determination.” (The court then listed the people who testified on the issue of disability.)

“On this same issue about past earnings, future earnings, you heard that the plaintiff applied for Social Security disability benefits in 1998, and was found disabled from work by the Social Security Administration effective a few days before the alleged tourniquet incident. And was found disabled due to conditions not related to the tourniquet incident, and has been receiving money benefits. You may also consider these factors in deciding if plaintiff suffered any compensable disability from the alleged tourniquet incident.

[357]*357“Ladies and gentlemen, the plaintiff is entitled to be compensated for the amount of earnings that he has lost up to the time of trial, as a result of his injuries resulting from a tourniquet incident. This amount is the difference between what he probably could have earned but for the harm, and any less sum which he actually earned in any employment. However, I think the evidence was there have been no earnings since the time of the alleged tourniquet incident. And again, you heard the evidence pertaining to disability from Social Security, as far as payments.” (The court continued to provide further instruction in regard to determination of disability without further mention of Social Security.) 6/6/01 N.T., pp. 89-91.

A reading of the entire charge, in regard to disability, past earnings and future earnings, is suggested.

Post-trial motions for judgment n.o. v. and for new trial, were timely filed on June 18, 2001. The motions were briefed and argued. We denied the motions with our order which was signed on December 17, 2001, and filed on December 18, 2001. A timely notice of appeal to the Superior Court was filed on January 17, 2002.

In the section which follows, we make mention of other facts pertaining to the Social Security issue, and we address the testimony of Nancy Kent which was a secondary issue raised by the plaintiff in her post-trial motions.

DISCUSSION

In her opening statement, the attorney for the plaintiff argued that, had Anthony Granata not become injured at St. Luke’s Hospital as a result of the tourniquet incident, he would have continued working as long as he could. [358]*358The plaintiff’s plan was to have the jury hear about only one incident that could have caused disability in Anthony Granata, namely, the tourniquet event of September 26, 1997.

However, there were other conditions that accounted for disability in Mr. Granata, namely, his cognitive deficits. We permitted the jury to hear these other conditions in Mr. Granata which were directly relevant to the disability claimed by the plaintiff. Mr. Granata applied for Social Security benefits through his guardian. He was granted those benefits, effective September 1, 1997, a date only several weeks before the tourniquet incident. The Social Security Administration found Mr. Granata disabled, not as a result of the injury to the arm, but rather because of his mental condition.

Plaintiff’s counsel argued that the evidence about the Social Security determination was irrelevant and inadmissible under the collateral source rule. Defense counsel argued that the evidence was relevant, was directly contrary to the assertion made by plaintiff and was not prohibited collateral source information. Despite an initial ruling to the contrary, we determined that defense counsel was accurate and that a full and truthful airing of all of the factors on the issue of disability required the introduction of the Social Security determination.

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Bluebook (online)
57 Pa. D. & C.4th 353, 2002 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 133, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hahn-v-st-lukes-hospital-pactcompllehigh-2002.