Latisha Simon v. Dr. Johnny R. Biddle

• Court: Louisiana Court of Appeal
• Decided: December 29, 2006
• Docket: CA-0006-0435
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

STATE OF LOUISIANA

COURT OF APPEAL, THIRD CIRCUIT

06-435

LATISHA SIMON

VERSUS

DR. JOHNNY BIDDLE AND SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA HOSPITAL ASSOCIATION D/B/A LAKE CHARLES MEMORIAL HOSPITAL

************

APPEAL FROM THE FOURTEENTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT PARISH OF CALCASIEU, NO. 2004-2462 HONORABLE ALCIDE GRAY, DISTRICT COURT JUDGE

JOHN D. SAUNDERS

Court composed of Sylvia R. Cooks, John D. Saunders, Michael G. Sullivan, Elizabeth A. Pickett, and James T. Genovese, Judges.

Genovese, J., dissents and assigns reasons.

REVERSED.

J. Bryan Jones, III P.O. Box 8841 Lake Charles, Louisiana 70606-8841 (337) 598-2638 Counsel for Plaintiff/Appellant: Latisha Simon Benjamin J. Guilbeau, Jr. Stockwell, Sievert, Viccellio, Clements & Shaddock, L.L.P. P.O. Box 2900 Lake Charles, Louisiana 70602-2900 (337) 436-9491 Counsel for Defendant/Appellee: Southwest Louisiana Hospital Association d/b/a/ Lake Charles Memorial Hospital

John E. Bergstedt J. Gregory Bergstedt The Bergstedt Law Firm One Lakeshore Drive, Suite 800 Lake Charles, Louisiana 70629-0111 (337) 436-4600 Counsel for Defendants/Appellees: Dr. Johnny Biddle Louisiana Medical Mutual Insurance Company SAUNDERS, Judge.

Plaintiff, Latisha Simon (Simon), filed this medical malpractice action against

her physician, Dr. Johnny R. Biddle, Jr. (Dr. Biddle)1, his insurer, and the hospital,

asserting that Defendants were negligent in failing to perform a tubal ligation and in

failing to inform Plaintiff that said procedure had not been performed. Plaintiff

appeals the trial court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the physician and his

insurer. For the following reasons, we reverse.

FACTS

Simon first saw Dr. Biddle, an obstetrician/gynecologist, on January 6, 2000,

in connection with her pregnancy. Simon had undergone a prior cesarian section and

indicated to Dr. Biddle that, when she delivered this child, she wanted to have a

repeat cesarian section and a tubal ligation. Simon signed consent forms on July 26,

2000, for the repeat cesarian section delivery. On August 1, 2000, Dr. Biddle

delivered Simon’s child via cesarian section.

Nearly one year later, Simon learned that she was pregnant again. Asserting

that this pregnancy resulted from the negligence of Dr. Biddle and/or the hospital

staff, Simon filed a medical malpractice claim, which was submitted to a medical

review panel. On January 21, 2004, the medical review panel rendered an opinion

that “the evidence does not support the conclusion that the [D]efendants failed to

meet the applicable standard of care as charged in the complaint.”

On April 28, 2004, Simon filed the present medical malpractice lawsuit against

defendants, Dr. Biddle, his medical malpractice insurer, Louisiana Medical Mutual

Insurance Company (Louisiana Medical), and Southwest Louisiana Hospital

1 We note that the caption of this proceeding names “Dr. Johnny Biddle” as a Defendant. Plaintiff’s petition refers to Dr. Biddle as “Dr. Johnny Biddle, Jr.” However, in his answer, and thereafter, Defendant, appears as “Dr. Johnny Biddle, Jr.” or “Dr. Johnny R. Biddle, Jr.” Therefore, they will all be considered as one and the same person. Association d/b/a Southwest Louisiana Hospital Association d/b/a Lake Charles

Memorial Hospital (Lake Charles Memorial). Simon alleged that in July of 2000 she

requested that Dr. Biddle perform a tubal ligation when he performed the cesarian

section delivery. However, during her admission to the hospital, while the cesarian

section was performed, Dr. Johnny Biddle did not perform the tubal ligation because

she had not signed the proper consent forms. Simon alleged that she “was never

informed that the tubal ligation was not performed until June 7, 2001, whenever she

became pregnant again.” Simon contended: (1) that defendants failed to provide her

with all of the proper forms that she needed to sign for the tubal ligation to be

performed; (2) that defendants failed to inform her that she did not have all of the

proper forms signed for the tubal ligation to be performed; and (3) that Dr. Biddle

failed to inform her that he could not perform the tubal ligation because she did not

have all of the proper forms signed.

Dr. Biddle and Louisiana Medical filed a motion for summary judgment,

asserting that there was no genuine issue of material fact as to any basis of liability

on the part of these defendants, and that they were entitled to judgment as a matter of

law. The trial court granted the motion for summary judgment and signed a written

judgment on December 13, 2005. It is from this grant of summary judgment that

Simon appeals.

ISSUE

Is there a genuine issue of material fact as to whether Simon was told that she

was not eligible for the tubal ligation and that the tubal ligation had not been

performed?

2 LAW AND ARGUMENT

Standard of Review

“Appellate courts review summary judgments de novo, using the same criteria

that govern the trial court’s consideration of whether summary judgment is

appropriate.” Richard v. Hall, 03-1488, p.4 (La. 4/23/04), 874 So.2d 131, 137; Goins

v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 01-1136 (La. 11/28/01), 800 So.2d 783. The appellate court

must determine whether “the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and

admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine

issue as to material fact, and that mover is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.”

La.Code Civ.P. art. 966(B). Despite the legislative mandate favoring summary

judgments found at La.Code Civ.P. art. 966(A)(2), “factual inferences reasonably

drawn from the evidence must be construed in favor of the party opposing the motion,

and all doubt must be resolved in the opponent’s favor.” Willis v. Medders, 00-2507,

p. 2 (La. 12/8/00), 775 So.2d 1049, 1050; Indep. Fire Ins. Co. v. Sunbeam Corp.,

99-2181, 99-2257 (La. 2/29/00), 755 So.2d 226.

Summary Judgment

As to the burden of proof in a motion for summary judgment, Louisiana Code

of Civil Procedure Article 966(C)(2) states:

The burden of proof remains with the movant. However, if the movant will not bear the burden of proof at trial on the matter that is before the court on the motion for summary judgment, the movant’s burden on the motion does not require him to negate all essential elements of the adverse party’s claim, action, or defense, but rather to point out to the court that there is an absence of factual support for one or more elements essential to the adverse party’s claim, action, or defense. Thereafter, if the adverse party fails to produce factual support sufficient to establish that he will be able to satisfy his evidentiary burden of proof at trial, there is no genuine issue of material fact.

Despite the liberalization of the summary judgment procedure, the law is still

3 such that testimony may not be weighed in a summary judgment hearing. Ray v.

Rodmar Enterprises, Inc., 03-1133 (La. 3 Cir. 3/17/04), 868 So.2d 311.

In the Ray case, we held that the testimony of a workers’ compensation

claimant was not defeated by contradictory testimony from numerous, independent

witnesses, including some members of the claimant’s own family. We did so because

the claimant’s testimony, if believed, would support his position that there was a

genuine issue of material fact, and therefore, was enough to defeat a motion for

summary judgment as weighing evidence is not done at this stage of the proceedings.

I dissented in Ray as I felt that the liberalization of the summary judgment

procedure might have justified some minimal weighing of evidence in extreme cases

such as where, illustratively, the oath of a thousand angels is opposed by that of a

single rogue. My thinking was that there are cases where the evidence of the party

opposing the motion is so patently inadequate that it has no realistic possibility of

prevailing even before the most generous and patient arbiter who is sympathetic to

its cause. I feel such an approach is warranted by the attempts of the legislature to

“level the playing field” between the parties to a summary judgment 2 and would

further the cause of judicial efficiency and may even be seen as charitable toward

both the party championing a doomed cause and the opposing party who may endure

considerable expense to gain its inevitable victory. I now recognize and concede that,

under current law, no such exception to the general rule exists and that there can be

no weighing of evidence at the summary judgment stage.

In the case before us, to determine whether Simon has an absence of factual

support for one or more elements of her claim we must look to her burden of proof

2 Hayes v. Autin, 96-287 (La. App.3 Cir. 12/26/96), 685 So.2d 691, 694, writ denied 97-281 (La. 3/14/97), 690 So.2d 41; La.Code Civ.P. art. 966(C).

4 in a medical malpractice claim. The burden of proof in a medical malpractice action

was set forth by this court in Young v. Mobley, 05-547, p. 5 (La.App. 3 Cir. 3/1/06),

923 So.2d 917, 920-21 (Emphasis Added), wherein we stated as follows:

Louisiana Revised Statute 9:2794 provides the applicable burden of proof for a plaintiff in a medical malpractice case. That [statute] provides that a plaintiff must establish the following elements by a preponderance of the evidence: (1) the standard of care applicable to the defendant; (2) that the defendant breached that standard of care; and (3) that there was a causal connection between the breach and the resulting injury. Generally, expert testimony is required to establish the applicable standard of care and whether or not that standard of care was breached. Butler [ v. DePuy, 04-101 (La.App. 3 Cir. 6/9/04)], 876 So.2d 259 (citing Davis v. Atchison, 37,832 (La.App. 2 Cir. 10/29/03), 859 So.2d 931). There is an exception to this general rule for cases where the negligence is so obvious that a lay person can infer negligence without the guidance of expert testimony. Thomas v. Southwest La. Hosp. Ass’n., 02-0645 (La.App. 3 Cir. 12/11/02), 833 So.2d 548, writ denied, 03-0476 (La.4/25/03), 842 So.2d 401 (citing Pfiffner v. Correa, 94-0924, 94-0963, 94-0992 (La.10/17/94), 643 So.2d 1228).

Here we have such a situation wherein a lay person, without expert guidance,

can discern that it is negligent to fail to inform a patient that a requested surgical

procedure was not done. Therefore, in derogation of the general rule set forth in

Young, it was not required that Simon provide expert testimony to establish the

applicable standard of care nor was it necessary to provide expert testimony to

establish that the applicable standard of care was breached.

Under current law, in order to defeat Dr. Biddle’s motion for summary

judgment, Simon merely had to allege the obvious standard of care is to inform a

patient of a failure to perform a requested procedure, and that the evidence, when

construed most favorably to her, indicated that there was a genuine issue as to

whether she was informed of such failure to perform the requested procedure. We

find that she has done so.

5 Dr. Biddle, in support of the motion for summary judgment, introduced the

opinion of the medical review panel, the reasons for the opinion of the medical review

panel, the affidavit of James M. Brown, and the affidavit of Dr. Michael Foreman.

We note that it is clear that the medical review panel did not find that failure

to advise a patient is not a breach of the standard of care. The medical review panel

instead made a determination that:

Dr. Biddle wanted no ambiguity with regards to this issue as he documented in the history and physical that he dictated August 1, 2000, that he would not be performing a tubal ligation since the consent for this procedure was not confirmed. He redocumented the fact that a tubal ligation was not performed in the operative report as well. Ms. Simon never consented to the procedure for a tubal ligation with Dr. Biddle, therefore, the procedure was not performed nor could the patient expect it to be performed.

What the medical review panel did, in essence, is find that, given the weight

of the evidence in front of them, Dr. Biddle must have informed Simon that he did not

perform the procedure or that Simon should have known that Dr. Biddle did not

perform the procedure. While these findings by the medical review panel may or may

not be correct, they are improper. These are findings of fact made by weighing

evidence. This must be done by a judge or jury, i.e. a finder of fact - not the medical

review panel.

It is clear that Simon, through her petition and her affidavit, alleged a standard

of care, alleged a breach of the standard of care, presented evidence that created a

genuine issue of material fact as to whether that standard of care was breached and

alleged an injury that resulted from that breach.

Simon alleged a failure to advise in her petition as follows:

9.

DR. JOHNNY BIDDLE and SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA

6 HOSPITAL ASSOCIATION d/b/a LAKE CHARLES MEMORIAL

HOSPITAL failed in their legal duty to inform LATISHA SIMON that

she did not have all the proper forms signed in order to have the tubal

ligation performed.

10.

DR. JOHNNY BIDDLE failed in his legal duty to inform

LATISHA SIMON that he could not perform the tubal ligation because

she did not have all the proper forms signed in order to have the tubal

Simon also alleges that Dr. Biddle is liable to her under the Louisiana Medical

Malpractice Act and alleges, at least by implication, that the failure to advise is a

violation of the Louisiana Medical Malpractice Act, and that she was injured by this

failure to advise. Further, Simon introduced an affidavit wherein she stated that she

was never informed by anyone that the tubal ligation could not be performed, and, as

a result, became pregnant. Thus, the genuine issue of whether Dr. Biddle advised the

plaintiff remains unresolved.

In order to win his motion for summary judgment, Dr. Biddle must have shown

that his alleged failure to inform Simon that no tubal ligation was done is not a breach

of the standard of care, or that, when viewing the evidence in a light most favorable

to Simon, he did in fact inform Simon that he did not do a tubal ligation. He has done

neither. Accordingly, summary judgment was not proper.

7 DECREE

For the foregoing reasons, the judgment of the trial court granting defendants’

motion for summary judgment is reversed.

Costs of this appeal are assessed against defendants.

8 STATE OF LOUISIANA

DR. JOHNNY BIDDLE AND SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA HOSPITAL ASSOCIATION D/B/A LAKE CHARLES MEMORIAL HOSPITAL

GENOVESE, J., dissents and assigns the following written reasons.

This is a medical malpractice case. Perhaps I am that one rogue opposing the

oath of a thousand angels as set forth in the majority opinion. The majority relies on

an exception to the general rule set forth in La.R.S. 9:2794 that the plaintiff must

prove by a preponderance of the evidence: (1) the standard of care; (2) that the

defendant breached that standard of care; and (3) that there was a causal connection

between the breach and the resulting injury. As set forth in Young v. Mobley, 05-547,

p.5 (La.App. 3 Cir. 3/1/00), 923 So.2d 917, 920-21, we noted “an exception to this

general rule for cases where the negligence is so obvious that a lay person can infer

negligence without the guidance of expert testimony.”

According to the majority, the facts in this case are such that “it was not

required that Simon provide expert testimony to establish the applicable standard of

care nor was it necessary to provide expert testimony to establish that the applicable

standard of care was breached.” In this case, an over abundance of expert medical

testimony was countered solely by plaintiff’s own affidavit.

The dispute in this medical malpractice case is whether or not a physician

informed a patient that a requested surgical procedure was or was not done. There

is a standard of care required of physicians relative to informing patients about

requested surgical procedures. That is a matter subject to the Louisiana Medical

Malpractice Act and requires expert testimony in order to establish the requisite standard of care. The plaintiff, a lay person, does not and can not establish such a

standard of care. That standard of care must be established by expert medical

testimony. The facts in this case do not trigger the limited exception that the

negligence was so obvious that a lay person could infer such negligence without the

guidance of expert testimony.

Considering the failure of the plaintiff to meet the requisite legal burden of

proof in this medical malpractice case, I would affirm the trial court’s grant of

summary judgment in favor of the physician and his insurer.