Hayward v. Summa Health System/Akron City Hospital

2014 Ohio 1913, 11 N.E.3d 243, 139 Ohio St. 3d 238
CourtOhio Supreme Court
DecidedMay 8, 2014
Docket2013-0021
StatusPublished
Cited by81 cases

This text of 2014 Ohio 1913 (Hayward v. Summa Health System/Akron City Hospital) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hayward v. Summa Health System/Akron City Hospital, 2014 Ohio 1913, 11 N.E.3d 243, 139 Ohio St. 3d 238 (Ohio 2014).

Opinions

Kennedy, J.

{¶ 1} In this discretionary appeal from a judgment of the Ninth District Court of Appeals, we determine whether the court of appeals erred in holding that a remote-cause jury instruction in a medical-malpractice case resulted in prejudicial error requiring a new trial.

{¶ 2} We accepted defendants-appellants’ following proposition of law:

The Ninth District’s decision in finding reversible error with respect to a remote cause jury instruction where a jury finds no negligence has effectively redefined what constitutes “prejudicial error” in jury instructions and, consequently, the Ninth District has created a direct conflict with this court and other appellate courts throughout Ohio.

{¶ 3} We hold that when a jury’s answers to interrogatories make it clear that the jurors found that the defendant was not negligent and the jury’s verdict is consistent with that finding, a remote-cause jury instruction, even if improper, cannot be found to have misled the jury in a manner materially affecting a substantial right. We reverse the judgment of the court of appeals on this issue and remand the cause for the court of appeals to consider the assignments of error it previously determined were moot.

I. Facts and Procedural History

{¶ 4} Defendants-appellants Dr. Michael Cullado, a board-certified colorectal surgeon, and Dr. Steven Wanek, a fifth-year surgical resident at defendant-[239]*239appellant Summa Health System/Akron City Hospital, performed abdominal surgery on Theresa Hayward, plaintiff-appellee, in October 2007. During this procedure, the surgeons used a device called a Bookwalter retractor, a flat metal ring that is positioned above the incision and has retractors attached to the ring that hold the abdominal wall away from the surgery site. The retractor allows the surgeons to see and operate on the surgical area.

{¶ 5} The Bookwalter retractor is used routinely in abdominal surgery, but its use carries known risks. One risk is damage to the femoral nerve, which, as one of the defendants testified, is “one of the major nerve conduits to the leg.” However, damage to the femoral nerve is a risk of abdominal surgery even when a Bookwalter retractor is not used.

{¶ 6} While in the hospital recovering from surgery, Hayward experienced numbness in her left leg and, as a result, was unable to stand. Dr. Cullado sought the expertise of Dr. Robert Lada, a neurologist, who ran a nerve-conduction study and other tests on Hayward. The study showed nerve damage, and further tests ruled out other common causes of femoral-nerve damage, such as diabetes and hematoma. Hayward was released from the hospital in a wheelchair. She improved with time and therapy, but there is some permanent impairment, and she now walks with a cane.

{¶ 7} In March 2009, Hayward filed a claim for relief against defendants-appellants, alleging that medical malpractice caused her femoral-nerve damage. Dr. Cullado testified at trial that in performing the surgery, and specifically, in placing the Bookwalter retractor, he conformed to or exceeded the proper standard of care. But he also stated that he believed Hayward’s injury was caused by the retractor during surgery, as did Dr. Lada.

{¶ 8} Both the plaintiffs and defendants’ expert witnesses, however, testified that when a femoral-nerve injury is caused by a Bookwalter retractor, a doctor was negligent. Hayward’s expert testified that femoral-nerve damage caused by the retractor is not a foreseeable risk of this kind of operation unless the retractor blades are not properly placed and that only physician negligence could have caused her injury. The defense expert acknowledged that the proper standard of care “can eliminate femoral nerve injuries caused by retractor blades.” But he also testified that the plaintiffs expert was drawing “inappropriate conclusions” from the femoral-nerve injuries because it was clear from Dr. Cullado’s surgical notes that he was a careful doctor, “other factors” may cause such injuries, and the appropriate standard of care cannot reduce the risk of femoral-nerve injuries to zero. He said that Dr. Cullado had “met the standard of care required of him.”

{¶ 9} The trial judge read aloud the jury instructions while showing them on a screen. He instructed the jurors on preponderance of the evidence, direct [240]*240evidence, circumstantial evidence, inference, witness credibility, and expert testimony.

{¶ 10} The trial judge next instructed the jury on negligence. He first explained that negligence alone is insufficient to prove liability because to prove liability, the plaintiff must also prove proximate cause. He explained “proximate cause” as follows: “Proximate cause occurs when the injury is the natural and foreseeable result of the act or failure to act.” As the defense requested, the judge added the following “remote-cause instruction”: “A person is not responsible for damages to another if his negligence is a remote cause and not a proximate cause. A cause is remote when the result could not have been reasonably foreseen or anticipated as being a natural or probable cause of any damage.” Earlier, when the judge had told the attorneys the instructions he planned to give the jury, Hayward objected to the remote-cause jury instruction. But she did not object to this instruction when it was given, even though the trial judge asked whether the parties had any objections to the instructions that they wanted to put on the record. The judge then instructed the jurors on economic and noneconomic loss and told the jurors that if they found in favor of Hayward, they should sign the general-verdict form in favor of Hayward and answer the interrogatories about damages Hayward suffered.

{¶ 11} The judge then gave instructions for answering the interrogatories. In doing so, the judge omitted some of the instructions and made some misstatements. The judge directed the jurors to answer Interrogatory No. 1, which asked whether Dr. Cullado was negligent in the care and treatment of Hayward. The judge then told the jurors to complete the general-negligence verdict form, which he called “the second form,” if they answered “No” to Interrogatory No. 1. The form he was referring to was labeled “Verdict Form ‘A,’ ” which reads that the jury finds in favor of Dr. Cullado “on the issue of liability.”

{¶ 12} The judge then instructed the jurors to answer Interrogatory No. 2 if they answered “Yes” to Interrogatory No. 1. Interrogatory No. 2 asks whether Summa Health System, through its employee, Dr. Wanek, was negligent in the care or treatment of Hayward. Therefore, the answer to Interrogatory No. 1 has no bearing on Interrogatory No. 2.

{¶ 13} The judge seems to have mistaken Interrogatory No. 2 for Interrogatory No. 3, which asks whether Dr. Cullado’s negligence caused injury to Hayward, and is the question that should have been answered only if the jury answered “Yes” to Interrogatory No. 1.

{¶ 14} The judge then told the jurors to “complete the general verdict form which follows in favor of Summa Health System” if they answered “No” to Interrogatory No. 2. The judge was referring to “Verdict Form ‘B,’ ” but he did not identify it specifically.

[241]*241{¶ 15} The judge then began to instruct on Interrogatory No. 3, which asked whether Dr. Cullado’s negligence caused injury to Hayward.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2014 Ohio 1913, 11 N.E.3d 243, 139 Ohio St. 3d 238, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hayward-v-summa-health-systemakron-city-hospital-ohio-2014.