Moore v. Smith

141 So. 3d 323, 2014 WL 2118157, 2014 La. App. LEXIS 1305
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 21, 2014
DocketNo. 48,954-CA
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 141 So. 3d 323 (Moore v. Smith) 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
Moore v. Smith, 141 So. 3d 323, 2014 WL 2118157, 2014 La. App. LEXIS 1305 (La. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinion

DREW, J.

| Jn this medical malpractice action, William Blake Bailey (“Blake”) and his mother, Rhonda Moore, appeal a judgment dismissing their claims against the Town of Homer following a trial on the merits.

We affirm.

FACTS

On the afternoon of Friday, February 13, 2004, 11-year-old Blake went to the home of his grandmother, Joyce Rawls, with whom he was temporarily living. Rawls gave Blake a Tylenol because he complained of a headache. She recalled that Blake slept most of Saturday. Blake, [325]*325who did not eat regularly that Saturday, began vomiting on Sunday morning.

That Sunday afternoon, Rawls decided to take Blake to the emergency room at Homer Medical Hospital (“HMH”). Blake had a recent history of going to the ER there.1 Rawls recalled that Blake slept while in the waiting room. A history of headaches and vomiting was given to the ER doctor. Rawls was also concerned that Blake had not urinated that day. Blake was admitted to HMH for treatment of acute gastritis and volume depletion. IV fluids of lOOcc per hour were ordered, along with Pepcid and Phenergan.

|2The attending nurse noted that Blake was asleep with a sound rest pattern at 6:30 p.m. Blake was found to arouse easily at 8:30 p.m. He complained of a headache, and a low-grade fever was noted.

At 10:30 p.m., Blake was quiet and without discomfort. He was given Motrin an hour later for headache pain and because his temperature had risen to 100.6 degrees.

Monday, February 16

At 1:45 a.m., Blake’s temperature was down to 99 degrees, and he did not have nausea. He was resting on his side without nausea at 4:00 a.m. Tylenol was given at 6:25 a.m. for headache pain.

The nurse found Blake alert, awake, and oriented at 8:00 a.m. He was tolerating clear liquids, with no apparent complaint or distress.

When Blake’s regular physician, Dr. James Smith, began rounds at approximately 7:30 that morning, he did not know that Blake had been admitted because his chart was not in a rack when Dr. Smith went to the nurses’ station. Dr. Smith was told by a nurse later that morning that Blake was a patient at the hospital.

The nurse noted at 10:00 a.m. that Blake’s grandfather was concerned about him. He had continued headaches and a sleepy feeling. After Dr. Smith was notified, he called 50 minutes later for a report on Blake. Dr. Smith ordered a bolus of IV fluid and continued IV fluids of 200cc per hour following the bolus. The bolus was started at 11:00.

Rawls had remained with her grandson since his admission, but was relieved on Monday afternoon by Blake’s mother, Rhonda Moore.

| sBlake required assistance to walk to the bathroom at 12:30 p.m. Dr. Smith saw Blake while doing rounds at lunchtime. Dr. Smith believed Blake was feeling better, was hungry, and had improvements in his nausea and vomiting symptoms. He anticipated that Blake would continue to improve with rehydration, and he requested a regular diet for Blake. Blake was assisted to the bathroom again at 1:00 p.m. Blake vomited a moderate amount at 2:35 p.m. He received Phenergan five minutes later. By 4:00 that afternoon, Blake was lying in bed with his eyes closed and without any signs or symptoms of nausea.

Dr. Smith saw Blake next when he did rounds at approximately 6:00 that evening. He asked the nurses to unhook the IV so [326]*326Blake could change shirts. A complete blood count with renal tests was planned for Tuesday morning. At 7:25 p.m., Dr. Smith ordered the administration of Demerol every four hours as needed.

Blake was sleeping soundly at 7:30 p.m., but his family was concerned that he was too sleepy and groggy. According to Rawls, Blake had been lethargic and unresponsive since arriving at the hospital. The attending nurse, Renee Mills, noted that Blake aroused when touched and was spoken to, and he opened his eyes and followed commands with no complaints at the time. Blake answered yes when asked if his head was hurting. Nurse Mills took his vital signs at 8:15 p.m.

At 10:10 p.m., 12.5 mg of Demerol was administered by IV for complaints of headaches. The IV was unhooked so Blake could change his shirt.

[4Moore called the nurses’ station at 11:50 p.m. to report that Blake had a seizure (“first incident”). According to Moore, Blake also wet the bed, and it took Mills over 20 minutes to come to the room. Mills stated that it would probably take less than a minute to get to the room from the nurses’ station, and she would respond as soon as she could if someone called from a patient room and was upset or panicked. Mills observed Blake grabbing his mother’s arm and pulling her shirt. Mills found Blake to be easily aroused and able to move all extremities. He was sleepy and groggy, but was able to follow commands. Mills checked his vital signs at midnight.

Tuesday, February 17

Moore called the nurses’ station again at 1:45 a.m. (“second incident”) to report that Blake was having a seizure. Again, according to Moore, Blake wet the bed and it took 30 minutes for Mills to respond to this second report of seizure. Blake was very still when Mills entered the room. Mills found that Blake aroused when his name was called and opened his legs when asked to. It was noted that Moore said Blake was stiff, but Mills found him to be very flexible. He pulled himself up in bed when asked, was in control of his bowels and bladder, and opened his mouth and lifted his tongue when asked. Blake also knew who Moore was. Mills noted that she did not see any signs or symptoms of seizure activity.

Mills found Blake asleep at 3:00 that morning. She found him awake at 5:00 a.m. without complaints of headaches. He had wet his bed, so his linens and clothes were changed. Moore claimed that she reported a third seizure episode around this time (“third incident”), although this is not | ¡¡reflected in the nursing records. Motrin was given at 6:55 a.m. Mills went off her shift five minutes later.

Dr. Smith was notified of what had happened during the night when he began rounds at approximately 7:00 that morning.

The nurse recorded that Blake was lying in bed, but was lethargic and difficult to arouse at 7:50 that morning. Tylenol was given for fever at 8:10 a.m. Dr. Smith saw Blake shortly thereafter, and he noted that Blake’s mother was convinced that Blake was having seizures. The doctor also noted that Demerol and Phenergan contributed to his sleepiness, although he was arousable, followed commands, and responded appropriately throughout the night. Dr. Smith further noted that Blake had wet the bed twice during the night. Dr. Smith’s diagnosis continued to be acute gastroenteritis with recurrent nausea and vomiting and persistent fever, and headache contributing and/or related to the GI diagnosis.

At 8:50 a.m., Dr. Smith ordered the IV fluid rate lowered to 75cc per hour. More importantly, because Blake had wet the [327]*327bed, Dr. Smith ordered a CT scan of Blake’s head and sinuses and asked the radiologist to call him with the results. Blake remained difficult to arouse at 9:30 a.m.

The radiologist discussed the CT scan findings with Dr. Smith at 10:80 a.m. The scan showed an acute right thalamic hema-toma. The radiologist noted that it was an extremely unusual finding in a pediatric patient. Dr. Smith began working on transferring Blake to LSUHSC-Shreve-port (“LSU”).

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141 So. 3d 323, 2014 WL 2118157, 2014 La. App. LEXIS 1305, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/moore-v-smith-lactapp-2014.