MacNutt v. Temple University Hospital, Inc.

932 A.2d 980, 2007 Pa. Super. 279, 2007 Pa. Super. LEXIS 3048
CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedSeptember 7, 2007
StatusPublished
Cited by25 cases

This text of 932 A.2d 980 (MacNutt v. Temple University Hospital, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Superior Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
MacNutt v. Temple University Hospital, Inc., 932 A.2d 980, 2007 Pa. Super. 279, 2007 Pa. Super. LEXIS 3048 (Pa. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

OPINION BY

GANTMAN, J.:

¶ 1 Appellants, Paul MacNutt and Mary Ann MacNutt, appeal from the judgment entered in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas, in favor of Appellees, Temple University Hospital, Inc., and Sa-toshi Furukawa, M.D.,1 in Appellants’ medical malpractice action, following the denial of Appellants’ post-trial motion for a new trial. Specifically, Appellants ask us to determine whether the trial court erred in precluding Appellants from presenting their medical malpractice case at trial based on a res ipsa loquitur theory of negligence. Appellants also challenge the trial court’s denial of their request for a jury instruction on the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur. We hold the court properly precluded Appellants from presenting their case at trial under the res ipsa loquitur doctrine. We also hold the court correctly denied Appellants’ request for a res ipsa loquitur jury instruction, because the evidence did not support that instruction. Accordingly, we affirm the court’s decision to deny Appellants a new trial.

¶ 2 The trial court opinion sets forth the relevant facts and procedural history of this case as follows:

[Appellant], Paul MacNutt, brought this action against [Appellees] based upon allegations of medical malpractice. [Appellant] sought medical treatment for Thoracic Outlet Syndrome, a condition that rendered his arms cold and paralyzed on an intermittent basis. [Appel-lee], Satoshi Furukawa, M.D., performed two surgeries to correct [Appellant’s] condition. [Appellant] alleged that during the second of these two surgeries in May of 2001, he suffered a chemical burn to the left side of his shoulder. He alleged that this chemical burn caused, and continues to cause, him severe pain to the extent that he is dependant on drugs to manage this pain. He further alleged that the burn [led] to the loss of life’s pleasures and decreased his earning capacity. [Appellant], Mary Ann MacNutt, made a claim for loss of consortium.
It was [Appellants’] intention to proceed to trial based upon a standard theory of negligence, as well as a theory of res ipsa loquitur. [Appellants] supported their standard theory of negligence by offering the expert testimony of Dr. Lynn W. Whelchel. Dr. Whelchel opined that [Appellant] suffered a chemical burn as a result of lying in an unconscious state for an extended period of time in a surgical preparatory cleansing solution composed of Betadine and alcohol that pooled under his body. [Appellants] intended to support their res ipsa loquitur theory by having Dr. Whelchel state that a burn of this nature would not ordinarily occur in the absence of negligence.
[Appellees] argued that [Appellant] had not suffered a chemical burn during the [984]*984surgery at issue. [Appellees] offered the expert testimony of Dr. Stuart R. Lessin, who diagnosed [Appellant] as suffering from an outbreak of shingles or herpes zoster. He stated that these outbreaks can often cause scarring and permanent pain. He also stated that these conditions can often be misdiagnosed. [Appellees] further attacked the credibility of Dr. Whelchel by pointing out the lack of factual basis for his opinion that Betadine pooled under [Appellant] during surgery. [Appellees] also argued that Betadine could not cause a third-degree burn of the nature [allegedly] suffered by [Appellant].
At the close of [Appellants’] case-in-chief, this court found that [Appellants] had produced adequate evidence to support a cause of action based on a standard theory of negligence without relying on a theory of res ipsa loquitur. This court precluded [Appellants] from proceeding on a theory of res ipsa loqui-tur.
Following a Defense verdict, [Appellants] filed post-trial motions alleging that they were prejudiced by this court’s ruling. [Appellants] raised three grounds for a new trial as follows:
1. The [c]ourt erred when, at the close of [Appellants’] case-in-chief, it precluded them from proceeding on a theory of res ipsa loquitur.
2. The [c]ourt erred when, at the close of [Appellants’] case-in-chief, it did not hold oral argument prior to ruling that [Appellants] could not proceed on a res ipsa loquitur theory of negligence.
3. The [c]ourt erred when it declined to instruct the jury in accordance with [Appellants’] proposed points for charge on res ipsa loquitur.

(Trial Court Opinion, filed June 24, 2005, at 1-2) (internal citations omitted).

¶ 3 The trial court denied Appellants’ post-trial motions on January 12, 2005. Appellants timely filed their notice of appeal on January 26, 2005. On October 10, 2006, a panel of this Court affirmed, with a dissent. On October 24, 2006, Appellants requested en banc reargument, which this Court granted on December 22, 2006.

¶ 4 On appeal, Appellants raise the following issues for our review:

DID THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS ERR IN REFUSING TO ALLOW [APPELLANTS] TO SEEK TO PROVE THE NEGLIGENCE OF [AP-PELLEES] THROUGH THE DOCTRINE OF RES IPSA LOQUITUR? DID THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS ERR IN REFUSING TO INSTRUCT THE JURY THAT THEY COULD FIND [APPELLEES] TO HAVE BEEN NEGLIGENT UNDER THE DOCTRINE OF RES IPSA LO-QUITUR?
DID THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS ERR IN ALLOWING THE JURY TO CONSIDER ONLY THE INTERROGATORY, “DID [APPELLANT] ... SUSTAIN A BURN TO HIS LEFT SCAPULA AREA OF HIS BACK AS A RESULT OF LYING IN A POOL OF BETADINE AT THE TIME OF THE SURGERY ... ?” WITHOUT ALSO PROVIDING THE JURY WITH INTERROGATORIES THAT WOULD HAVE ALLOWED THE JURY TO DETERMINE THAT ALL OR SOME OF [APPELLEES] WERE NEGLIGENT UNDER THE DOCTRINE OF RES IPSA LOQUI-TUR?

(Appellants’ Brief at 4).

¶ 5 When presented with an appeal from the denial of a motion for a new trial, “absent a clear abuse of discretion by the trial court, appellate courts must not [985]*985interfere with the trial court’s authority to grant or deny a new trial.” Harman ex rel. Harman v. Borah, 562 Pa. 455, 466, 756 A.2d 1116, 1121-22 (2000).

In Harman, the Court noted that the trial court must follow a two-step process in responding to a request for a new trial. The trial court must determine whether a factual, legal or discretionary mistake was made at trial. If the trial court determines that one or more mistakes were made, it must then evaluate whether the mistake provided a sufficient basis for granting a new trial. Moreover, the Court noted[:] “A new trial is not warranted merely because some irregularity occurred during the trial or another trial judge would have ruled differently; the moving party must demonstrate to the trial court that he or she has suffered prejudice from the mistake.”
The Court then set forth an additional two-step analysis for appellate review of a trial court’s determination to grant or deny9 a new trial. First, the appellate court must examine the decision of the trial court to determine whether it agrees that a mistake was, or was not, made. In so doing, the Court noted that the appellate court must apply the appropriate standard of review.

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Bluebook (online)
932 A.2d 980, 2007 Pa. Super. 279, 2007 Pa. Super. LEXIS 3048, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/macnutt-v-temple-university-hospital-inc-pasuperct-2007.