Martinez v. Schumpert Medical Center

655 So. 2d 649, 1995 La. App. LEXIS 1207, 1995 WL 271576
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 10, 1995
Docket27000-CA
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 655 So. 2d 649 (Martinez v. Schumpert Medical Center) 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
Martinez v. Schumpert Medical Center, 655 So. 2d 649, 1995 La. App. LEXIS 1207, 1995 WL 271576 (La. Ct. App. 1995).

Opinion

655 So.2d 649 (1995)

Robeline M. MARTINEZ, et al., Plaintiffs-Appellants,
v.
SCHUMPERT MEDICAL CENTER, et al., Defendants-Appellees.

No. 27000-CA.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit.

May 10, 1995.

*652 Sherburne Sentell, Minden, for appellant.

Mayer, Smith & Roberts by Mark A. Goodwin, Shreveport, for appellees.

Before MARVIN, NORRIS and STEWART, JJ.

STEWART, Judge.

Mrs. Robeline Martinez and her two daughters, Micki M. Browning and Pamela D. Martinez, filed suit against Schumpert Medical Center alleging that the hospital's negligence caused the death of Clifton Martinez. A jury found that the hospital's actions breached the standard of care but did not agree that the defendant's negligence contributed to the death of the patient. The plaintiffs subsequently lodged this appeal. For the assigned reasons, we affirm.

FACTS

Sixty-six year old Clifton Martinez was hospitalized at Schumpert Medical Center on May 8, 1988, suffering from shortness of breath, congestive heart failure and an elevated blood pressure. The treating physician, Dr. Thomas Smith, first placed Mr. Martinez in the intensive care unit for twenty-four hour observation.

Dr. Smith determined that Mr. Martinez's condition had greatly improved and ordered on May 9, 1988, that the patient be moved to the cardiac monitor wing of the hospital. There Martinez's cardiac condition could be monitored closely with the assistance of electronic monitoring units. To assist in the care of Mr. Martinez after his transfer to the cardiac monitor wing, Dr. Smith issued orders allowing Martinez bathroom privileges and the freedom to ambulate about the hall without assistance, if he elected. Mr. Martinez was transferred to the cardiac telemetry unit that morning.

The primary care nurse assigned to Martinez was Vicki Wood, a registered nurse. She testified that upon the arrival of Martinez, she received an oral report from the *653 transferring nurse and assessed Martinez's condition. She noted that the patient was awake, alert, and oriented. Woods stated that she instructed Mr. Martinez, in the presence of his daughter, Micki Browning, that he was only to get up with Wood's assistance, because she had not yet seen him ambulate. Mr. Martinez was also told by Patty Humphries, the monitor technician who connected him to the portable telemetry transmitter, to call the nurse's station before attempting to get out of bed.

After eating lunch, Mr. Martinez removed his nasal tubes and got up out of bed to go to the bathroom without any assistance from a nurse and without pressing the call buzzer beside his bed. Micki Browning testified that she heard her father void and then place the toilet seat down. Seconds later, she heard a blatant, blunt sound. Browning called to her father but heard no answer. She attempted to open the door, but discovered that it was locked from the inside. After unsuccessfully attempting to open the door, Ms. Browning ran into the hall to find help. Vicki Wood heard Ms. Browning and went with her to the room to open the door. When she failed to open the door, Wood looked for Diane Bricker.

Diane Bricker, a registered nurse, was assigned the task of watching the cardiac monitors on the date of the incident while the person on duty, Patty Humphries, went to lunch. Ms. Bricker walked away from the monitor for a minute to hook up another patient who had returned from a test. She testified that only a matter of seconds elapsed from the time that Ms. Woods told her that the patient had fallen, until she got to Martinez's room. When she arrived, Ms. Bricker used a pair of bandage scissors and immediately opened the door. Ms. Wood testified that approximately three to four minutes elapsed from the time that she heard Ms. Browning scream until Diane Bricker opened the bathroom door.

Vicki Wood was the first person in the bathroom and observed that the patient was having a seizure and that his right arm and leg was twitching. Martinez's skin was hot and sweating and his respiration was uneven and shallow. Once Martinez was moved to the bed, Wood further observed that she heard a rattling noise in his front and back chest. He did not respond to painful or verbal stimuli. The patient's blood pressure was 200/40 and there was no sign of cyanosis (blue skin color) or a head injury or trauma.

Vicki Wood called a "code blue" because the patient's breathing was shallow and irregular and she feared that he might suffer cardiac arrest. Because Mr. Martinez never arrested, CPR was not administered, the defibrillator was not used, and a code sheet was never completed. Patricia Hunt, a registered nurse, also observed that the patient's skin showed no signs of cyanosis when she attempted to start an IV in his arm. Oxygen was applied through a rebreather mask. At 12:30 p.m., Clifton Martinez was transferred back to the medical intensive care unit.

Nurse Dee Rizzo received the patient in ICU and did not note any bruises, bumps, lacerations or contusions on Martinez's head. Upon examination, Dr. Smith determined that the patient had some obvious neurological problems and as a result contacted Dr. Winston Brown, a neurologist, and a pulmonary specialist, Dr. Briggs. Dr. Brown concluded that the patient suffered a cerebral infarction or severe stroke on the right middle cerebral artery which caused irreversible damage. Dr. Smith testified that earlier access to the patient would not have made any difference. Clifton Martinez never regained consciousness and died on May 12, 1988.

At the request of the Martinez family and the parish coroner, the decedent's body was exhumed for autopsy. In his findings dated July 13, 1988, Dr. George McCormick concluded that Clifton Martinez's death was caused by a trauma to his head that was received when he fell. These findings precipitated the lawsuit later filed by Mrs. Martinez and the couple's two daughters.

At trial, the jury concluded that the delay in accessing the patient was below the standard of care, but found that this negligence was not a substantial factor in contributing to any injury or the death of Clifton Martinez. Plaintiffs moved for a JNOV and a new trial, but both were denied. Plaintiffs subsequently lodged this appeal.

*654 I. STANDARD OF REVIEW

The plaintiffs contend that the trial court made numerous errors in instructing the jury and in evidentiary rulings that tainted the verdict of the jury. Additionally, plaintiffs argue that the documentary evidence and objective evidence were inconsistent with witness testimony. Consequently, plaintiffs urge that the manifest error standard does not apply in this case and that this court should conduct a de novo review of the record. We find these arguments to be meritless.

A court of appeal may not set aside a trial court's finding of fact unless it is clearly wrong or manifestly erroneous. Arceneaux v. Domingue, 365 So.2d 1330 (La.1978), on remand 370 So.2d 1262 (La.App. 3d Cir.), writ denied 374 So.2d 660 (La.1979). However, when a jury is given incorrect instructions in the law, or when a trial court makes a consequential error in the exclusion of evidence, no weight should be accorded the judgment of the trial court which implements the jury verdict. See, Thomas v. Missouri Pacific R. Co., 466 So.2d 1280 (La.1985); Otto v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 455 So.2d 1175 (La.1984); Ragas v. Argonaut Southwest Ins. Co., 388 So.2d 707 (La.1980); Gonzales v. Xerox Corp., 320 So.2d 163 (La. 1975).

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Bluebook (online)
655 So. 2d 649, 1995 La. App. LEXIS 1207, 1995 WL 271576, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/martinez-v-schumpert-medical-center-lactapp-1995.