Hlatky v. Jaeger

3 Pa. D. & C.5th 19
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Lehigh County
DecidedDecember 17, 2007
Docketno. 2002-C-2593V
StatusPublished

This text of 3 Pa. D. & C.5th 19 (Hlatky v. Jaeger) 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
Hlatky v. Jaeger, 3 Pa. D. & C.5th 19 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2007).

Opinion

BLACK, P.J.,

This is a medical malpractice case brought by the plaintiffs, John Hlatky and Rosemarie Hlatky, arising from medical care rendered to Mrs. Hlatky by the defendant Randy Jaeger M.D., an orthopedic surgeon employed by the defendant Lehigh Valley Orthopedics. Dr. Jaeger operated on Mrs. Hlatky’s hip in October and November 2000 after she fractured it in a fall at work. Prior to trial the plaintiffs discontinued their claims against various co-defendants.

The plaintiffs’ case against Dr. Jaeger and Lehigh Valley Orthopedics was tried to jury verdict from March 27, 2007, through April 4, 2007. The jury found in favor of the defendants. The plaintiffs have timely filed a motion for post-trial relief, which is now before the court for disposition.

The plaintiffs’ post-trial motion asserts (1) that the jury’s verdict was against the weight of the evidence; (2) that the court erred in permitting Dr. Leo Scarpino to be qualified as an expert during the trial; and (3) that the [21]*21court erred in admitting into evidence a nurse’s note that Sacred Heart Hospital (not the current defendants) had failed to produce to the plaintiffs’ counsel during pretrial discovery. For the reasons stated below, we find no merit in the plaintiffs’ motion, and it is therefore denied.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

On October 27, 2000, the plaintiff Rosemarie Hlatky was working as a sleep technologist at Sacred Heart Hospital when she fell over a housekeeping cart and struck the floor, causing a fracture to the head of her left femur. The defendant Randy Jaeger M.D., the hospital’s on-call orthopedic surgeon, was called to assess Mrs. Hlatky’s condition. He determined that her fracture required surgery, specifically that it be set with pins and screws. The next day, October 28,2000, Mrs. Hlatky was taken to the operating room at Sacred Heart Hospital where Dr. Jaeger performed the repair. Post-operative x-rays were interpreted by a radiologist as showing possible evidence of a surgical screw protruding beyond the femoral head into the acetabulum or hip socket. However, after reviewing the x-ray films, Dr. Jaeger disagreed with this interpretation and determined that the surgical screws were appropriately placed.

On November 1,2000, Mrs. Hlatky was moved to the rehabilitation floor of the hospital, which was then run by Moss Rehabilitation. Mrs. Hlatky had been instructed by Dr. Jaeger to begin rehabilitation of her hip by putting weight on it as tolerated. She underwent a course of physical therapy under the direction of Moss Rehabilitation. When she experienced pain that seemed disproportionate to the injury and surgery, additional radio-graphic studies were performed, including a CAT scan [22]*22of the hip on November 8, 2000. The CAT scan showed that one or more of the screws was in fact protruding beyond the femoral head into Mrs. Hlatky’s hip joint. As a result, revision surgery was required.

On November 10, 2000, Mrs. Hlatky was readmitted to Sacred Heart Hospital where Dr. Jaeger performed revision surgery of her hip fracture the following day. During this procedure Dr. Jaeger replaced all the screws with smaller ones to address the protrusion that had been causing Mrs. Hlatky’s considerable pain. Mrs. Hlatky was then readmitted to Moss Rehabilitation for additional physical therapy and was discharged to home on December 9, 2000.

Following the revision surgery, Mrs. Hlatky’s pain did not abate. After several months of ongoing out-patient rehabilitation Mrs. Hlatky was seen by Dr. Leo Scarpino, also an orthopedic surgeon and Dr. Jaeger’s partner. Dr. Scarpino recommended a hip replacement. As a result, Mrs. Hlatky was readmitted to Sacred Heart Hospital on April 18,2001, for hip replacement surgery. Because of damage to the hip socket observed by Dr. Scarpino during the surgery, he found it necessary to do a total hip replacement.

Despite the total hip replacement, Mrs. Hlatky continues to experience considerable pain. This pain has continued even though she underwent a second hip replacement performed in Philadelphia by William Hozack M.D., in September 2005.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

In Harman ex rel. Harman v. Borah, 562 Pa. 455, 756 A.2d 1116 (2000), our Supreme Court re-examined the appropriate standard of review of a motion for a new [23]*23trial at both the trial court and appellate levels. When responding to a request for a new trial, the trial court must follow a two-step process. Id. at 467, 756 A.2d at 1122. The trial court must first determine whether one or more errors occurred during the trial. Id. If the trial court concludes that an error occurred, the court must then determine whether the error is a sufficient basis for granting a new trial. Id. A new trial is not warranted merely because some irregularity occurred during the trial or because another trial judge would have ruled differently. The moving party must demonstrate prejudice resulting from the mistake. Id.

DISCUSSION

I. The Jury Verdict and the Weight of the Evidence

In their motion for post-trial relief the plaintiffs allege that the jury’s verdict was against the “great weight of the evidence”1 and request that it be set aside with judgment to be entered in favor of the plaintiffs. In their brief, the plaintiffs limit their request to a new trial.

The trial court has inherent power to grant a new trial and a duty to do so when the court believes that the verdict was against the weight of the evidence and resulted in a miscarriage of justice. Thompson v. City of Philadelphia, 507 Pa. 592, 493 A.2d 669 (1985). However, a new trial is not to be granted unless the evidence supporting the verdict is so inherently improbable or at variance with admitted or proven facts or with ordinary experience as to render the verdict shocking to the court’s sense of justice. Fogg v. Paoli Memorial Hospital, 455 [24]*24Pa. Super. 81, 686 A.2d 1355 (1996); Houseknecht v. Walters, 404 Pa. Super. 85, 590 A.2d 20 (1991). A new trial is not to be granted merely because the jury could have drawn different conclusions or inferences. Sundlun v. Shoemaker, 421 Pa. Super. 353, 361, 617 A.2d 1330, 1334-35 (1992).

In this case, substantial evidence was presented by both sides. The case was well-tried. Although the jury could have reached a different conclusion from the evidence presented, we cannot say that the evidence supporting the verdict is inherently improbable, at variance with admitted or proven facts, or at variance with ordinary experience, so as to shock our sense of justice.

The evidence indicated clearly that the fracture of Mrs. Hlatky’s femoral head did not fuse after the initial surgery. However, the plaintiffs’ own expert witness, Dr. Herbert Ratner, testified that a hip fracture such as this has a 20 percent chance of a non-union, even with the best of medical care.2

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Related

Fogg v. Paoli Memorial Hospital
686 A.2d 1355 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1996)
Commonwealth v. Lewis
372 A.2d 399 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1977)
Harman Ex Rel. Harman v. Borah
756 A.2d 1116 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 2000)
Feingold v. Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority
517 A.2d 1270 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1986)
Thompson v. City of Philadelphia
493 A.2d 669 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1985)
Royster v. McGowen Ford, Inc.
439 A.2d 799 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1982)
Sundlun v. Shoemaker
617 A.2d 1330 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1992)
Houseknecht v. Walters
590 A.2d 20 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1991)

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Bluebook (online)
3 Pa. D. & C.5th 19, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hlatky-v-jaeger-pactcompllehigh-2007.