Kaplan v. Mayo Clinic

947 F. Supp. 2d 1001, 2013 WL 2317993, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 74546
CourtDistrict Court, D. Minnesota
DecidedMay 28, 2013
DocketCivil No. 07-3630 (JRT/JJK)
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 947 F. Supp. 2d 1001 (Kaplan v. Mayo Clinic) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Kaplan v. Mayo Clinic, 947 F. Supp. 2d 1001, 2013 WL 2317993, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 74546 (mnd 2013).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER ON DEFENDANTS’ MOTIONS IN LIMINE

JOHN R. TUNHEIM, District Judge.

This case arises out of a surgery performed on Elliot Kaplan (“Kaplan”) by a surgeon at Mayo Clinic to treat pancreatic cancer, a condition which post-surgery testing revealed that Kaplan never had. Kaplan and has wife Jeanne Kaplan (collectively, “the Kaplans”) filed lawsuit against Mayo Clinic and its affiliated entities (collectively, “Mayo”), as well as Dr. David Nagorney (“Dr. Nagorney”), the doctor who performed Kaplan’s surgery, and Dr. Lawrence J. Burgart (“Dr. Bur-gart”), the doctor who erroneously diagnosed Kaplan with pancreatic cancer. The Court granted summary judgment in favor of Dr. Nagorney. The case proceeded to trial against the other defendants on the Kaplans’ claims of breach of contract and negligent failure to diagnose. At the close of the Kaplans’ case, the Court granted judgment as a matter of law against them on their breach of contract claim. The jury returned a verdict for Mayo and Bur-[1004]*1004gart on the Kaplans’ claim for negligent failure to diagnose, and the Court entered judgment on that verdict.

On appeal, the Eighth Circuit reversed as to the breach of contract claim concluding that a reasonable jury could find that Nagorney, on behalf of Mayo, formed a contract with Kaplan when Nagorney told Kaplan that he would perform an intraop-erative biopsy to confirm the cancer diagnosis before proceeding with the surgery. The Eighth Circuit found that Nagorney breached this contract when he failed to perform the promised biopsy. The Eighth Circuit remanded for further proceedings on the breach of contract claim.

The case is now before the Court on Mayo’s motions in limine regarding the presentation of damages evidence at the remand trial on the Kaplans’ breach of contract claim. Mayo requests that the Court (1) preclude the Kaplans from presenting evidence of pain and suffering and emotional damages in support of their breach of contract claim; (2) dismiss Mrs. Kaplan’s loss of consortium claim; and (3) limit the Kaplans’ evidence of damages to documents and information disclosed prior to the December 30, 2012 disclosure deadline. For the reasons explained below, the Court will grant Mayo’s motion to exclude evidence of pain and suffering and emotional damages and will dismiss Mrs. Kap-lan’s loss of consortium claim. The Court will deny Mayo’s motion to limit the Kap-lans’ evidence to damages information disclosed prior to December 30, 2012.

BACKGROUND

I. THE WHIPPLE PROCEDURE

In July 2003, Kaplan was hospitalized in Missouri after experiencing severe abdominal pain. A CT scan showed that Kaplan had an enlarged pancreas, and doctors in Missouri proceeded to perform a needle biopsy on the pancreas. A pathologist affiliated with the Missouri hospital reviewed the biopsy and, based on that review, Kap-lan was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

In August 2003, Kaplan sought a second opinion from Mayo, and sent Mayo the pathology slides that the Missouri doctors had prepared in conjunction with the needle biopsy. Dr. Burgart, a Mayo pathologist, reviewed the pathology slides and diagnosed Kaplan with grade 2 infiltrating pancreatic cancer. Another Mayo doctor made an independent diagnosis of pancreatic cancer based on the slides. Given Dr. Burgart’s diagnosis, Dr. Nagorney, a Mayo surgeon, recommended that Kaplan undergo a pancreatoduodenectomy, or “Whipple” procedure, which involves excising portions of the pancreas and stomach as well as the entire pylorus and duodenum.

Kaplan was concerned about the validity of the cancer diagnosis, and expressed this concern to Dr. Nagorney. When asked if he could confirm the diagnosis during the surgery, Dr. Nagorney allegedly replied that he would do a biopsy of the mass to verify that it was cancer, and if there was no cancer, Dr. Nagorney would not complete the procedure. On August 14, 2003, Dr. Nagorney performed the Whipple procedure on Kaplan. Dr. Nagorney did not perform an intraoperative biopsy on Kap-lan’s pancreatic tissue, and completed the Whipple procedure. After examining the pancreatic tissue postoperatively, Mayo pathologists concluded that Kaplan did not have pancreatic cancer.

II. PROCEDURAL HISTORY

In 2007, the Kaplans filed a complaint against Mayo, Dr. Nagorney, and Dr. Bur-gart, alleging claims for medical malpractice, negligent nondisclosure, breach of contract, and loss of consortium. {See Am. Compl., Sept. 17, 2007, Docket No. 4.)

[1005]*1005A. Summary Judgment and Trial

In 2008, the Court granted summary judgment in favor of Dr. Nagorney, finding that the Kaplans’ expert affidavit opined only on medical negligence with respect to Kaplan’s medical diagnosis, and not with respect to the surgical procedure performed on Kaplan: (Order at 14-15, Oct. 27, 2008, Docket No. 87, 2008 WL 4755797.) Consequently, the Court dismissed all of the Kaplans’ claims against Dr. Nagorney with prejudice. (Id. at 15.)

The case proceeded to trial against the other defendants on claims of breach of contract and negligent failure to diagnose. (See Pl.’s Statement of the Case at 5, Mar. 23, 2009, Docket No. 116.) ' Before conclusion of the trial, the Court granted defendants’ motion for judgment as a matter of law on the breach of contract claims. (Minute Entry, Apr. 14, 2009, Docket No. 165.) The Court determined that the breach of contract claim, which arose “out of the diagnosis, care and treatment of [Kaplan],” failed because the Kaplans had not presented expert testimony relating to the standard of care to determine whether there had been a breach. (Tr. at 986-87, July 15, 2010, Docket No. 202.)

After the evidence was presented, the jury returned a verdict for Mayo and Dr. Burgart on the Kaplans’ claims for negligent misdiagnosis. (Special Verdict Form at 1, Apr. 15, 2009, Docket No. 166.) Because the jury found that neither Mayo nor Dr. Burgart was negligent in the care or treatment of Kaplan, the jury did not answer any questions regarding damages. (Id. at 1-2.) The Court entered judgment on the verdict. (J., Apr. 17, 2009, Docket No. 169.) The Court then denied the Kap-lans’ motion for a new trial, and the Kap-lans appealed. (Order, Apr. 20, 2010, Docket No. 184, 2010 WL 1576784; Notice of Appeal, May 20, 2010, Docket No. 190.)

B. Appeal

On appeal, the Eighth Circuit denied the Kaplans’ request for a new trial on their claim for negligent failure to diagnose, and affirmed the Court’s judgment with respect to that claim. Kaplan v. Mayo Clinic, 653 F.3d 720, 724-26 (8th Cir.2011). The Eighth Circuit also affirmed the Court’s grant of judgment in favor of Dr. Burgart on the Kaplans’ breach of contract claim. Id. at 727. But the Eight Circuit concluded that the Court erred in granting judgment as a matter of law to Mayo on the Kaplans’ breach of contract claim. Id. at 729.

Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the Kaplans, the Eighth Circuit reviewed the Court’s grant of judgment as a matter of law to determine whether any reasonable jury could have found in favor of the Kaplans on their breach of contract claim. Id. at 727. To establish a claim for breach of contract the Kaplans were required to show formation of a contract, breach, and resulting damages. Id. at 726 (citing Briggs Transp. Co.

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947 F. Supp. 2d 1001, 2013 WL 2317993, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 74546, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kaplan-v-mayo-clinic-mnd-2013.