Lee v. Quinn

229 So. 3d 13, 2017 WL 4081883
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedSeptember 15, 2017
Docket2017 CA 0070
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 229 So. 3d 13 (Lee v. Quinn) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lee v. Quinn, 229 So. 3d 13, 2017 WL 4081883 (La. Ct. App. 2017).

Opinion

McDonald, j.

12This is an appeal from a summary judgment dismissing plaintiffs claims against an emergency room physician and general hospital after the district court ruled that plaintiffs expert, a cardiologist, did not possess the requisite knowledge, skill, training, or education necessary to render an expert opinion on the standards of care or the breach of the standards of care of a general hospital or an emergency room physician. After review, we affirm.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

This is a tragic case. Around 12:19 a.m. on June 13, 2012, 13-month-old Landon Lee1 was transported by ambulance to Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center (OLOL) with complaints of respiratory distress and vomiting. He was evaluated in the emergency room, determined to have cardiac issues, and admitted to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. Landon’s condition deteriorated, requiring intubation and aggressive lifesaving efforts. Landon was ultimately transferred to Ochsner Medical Center in New Orleans by helicopter later that morning so that he could be put into the ECMO (Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation) unit. Landon was given CPR during the transfer, and also upon arrival at Ochsner Medical Center around 9:00 a.m. However, Landon was pronounced dead at 9:44 a.m. An autopsy conducted several days later determined that Landon died from cardiomegaly (an enlarged heart).

On March 17, 2015, Landon’s mother, Anjel Lee, filed suit for damages individually, and on behalf of Landon, against OLOL and Dr. Shannon Boudreaux, a pediatrician and emergency room physician who treated Landon at OLOL. Ms. Lee asserted that OLOL and Dr. Boudreaux failed to properly care for and treat |sLandon, and asked for damages resulting from his death.2 Ms. Lee maintained that the claim was timely submitted to a Medical Review Panel, and that the panel had rendered an opinion on November 24, 2014.3

On April 15, 2015, OLOL filed an answer, admitting that Landon was transported by ambulance to OLOL, and that Landon received medical treatment and care at OLOL. OLOL generally denied the other allegations of the petition. OLOL maintained that it was a qualified healthcare provider pursuant to the Louisiana Medical Malpractice Act, La. R.S. 40:1231.1, et seq., and was entitled to immunities from liability and limitations of liability as a qualified healthcare provider. OLOL denied a breach of the standard of care and denied that any action or inaction-on its part was a legal cause or cause in fact of any injury to Landon, or was a legal cause or cause in fact of Landon’s death. OLOL pled the fault of third parties for whom it was not liable, and asked that the claims against it be- dismissed with prejudice.

On April 21, 2015, Dr. Boudreaux filed1 an answer to the petition, admitting that he provided medical care and treatment to Landon while at OLOL. Dr. Boudreaux generally denied the other allegations and raised affirmative defenses. Dr. Boudreaux maintained that he was a qualified health care provider pursuant to Louisiana law and was entitled to immunities from liability and limitations of liability as a qualified healthcare provider, and that he possessed the knowledge, training and experience necessary to provide care to Landon, and further, denied any breach of the standard of care. Further, Dr. Boudreaux denied that any action Ron his part was a legal cause or cause in fact of any injury to Landon, or was a legal cause or cause in fact of Landon’s death, and he pled the fault of third parties for whom he was not hable. Dr. Boudreaux asked for judgment in his favor dismissing the claims with prejudice.

On March 14, 2016, OLOL and Dr. Bou-dreaux filed a motion for summary judgment, asserting that Ms. Lee- had no support to establish the essential elements of her claim at trial. OLOL asserted that Ms. • Lee had no expert opinion establishing the standards of care of OLOL and Dr. Bou-dreaux or showing that OLOL and Dr. Boudreaux had breached the standards of care. OLOL and Dr. Boudreaux maintained that- there was no genuine issue of material fact, that they were entitled to summary judgment as a matter of law, and asked that the claims against them be dismissed with prejudice.

On June 20, 2106, Ms. Lee filed an opposition to the motion for summary judgment, maintaining in part that expert testimony was not necessary to establish a medical malpractice claim when a lay person could infer negligence. Further, Ms.. Lee maintained that, the affidavit of her expert, Dr. Jon Meliones, a board-certified pediatric cardiologist specializing in pediatric-critical care, established .that the defendants were negligent and breached the standards of care in several respects.

On July 6, 2016, OLOL and Dr. Bou-dreaux filed a reply in support of their motion for summary judgment, noting that the only medical malpractice cases not requiring expert testimony are thosé where-the alleged negligence is so obvious that a lay person can infer negligence without the guidance of expert testimony, and that this was not such a case.

On July 11, 2016, the district court heard OLOL and Dr. Boudreaux’s motion for summary judgment, and afterward took the motion under advisement. Thereafter, in its reasons for judgment, the district court noted that Dr. Meliones [fiwas a board-certified pediatric cardiologist specializing in pediatric critical care. The district court noted that Dr. Boudreaux was an emergency care physician, which was recognized as its own type of medical specialty. Therefore, the district court found, Dr. Meliones was not qualified to issue an opinion as to the' standard of care and ■breach of the standard of care as to Dr. Boudreaux. The district court also found that Dr. Meliones did not have the necessary qualification to issue an opinion as to the standard of care and breach of the standard of care of a general hospital such as OLOL. Thus, the district court granted the motion to strike Dr. Meliones’s affidavit. The district court found no disputed genuine issues of material fact, found that Ms. Lee failed to establish with competent eviclence that she could satisfy her burden of proof at trial, and found that OLOL and Dr. Boudreaux were entitled to judgment as a matter of law.

Thereafter, the district court granted the motion for summary judgment filed by OLOL and Dr. Boudreaux and dismissed Ms; Lee’s claims against OLOL and Dr. Boudreaux, with prejudice, by judgment signed on September 15, 2016. Ms. Lee appeals.

ANALYSIS

A motion for summary judgment is a procedural device used when there is no genuine issue of material fact for all or part of the relief prayed for by a litigant. A summary judgment is reviewed on appeal de novo, with the appellate court using the same criteria that govern the trial court’s determination of whether summary judgment is appropriate; i.e., whether there is any genuine issue of material fact, and whether the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Samaha v. Rau, 2007-1726 (La. 2/26/08), 977 So.2d 880, 882-83.

The burden of proof rests with the mover.. Nevertheless,, if.the mover will not bear the burden of proof at trial ,on the issue that is before the court on the motion for summary judgment, the mover’s burden on the.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
229 So. 3d 13, 2017 WL 4081883, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lee-v-quinn-lactapp-2017.