Opelousas General Hosp. v. Guillory

429 So. 2d 550, 1983 La. App. LEXIS 8075
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 21, 1983
Docket82-545
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 429 So. 2d 550 (Opelousas General Hosp. v. Guillory) 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
Opelousas General Hosp. v. Guillory, 429 So. 2d 550, 1983 La. App. LEXIS 8075 (La. Ct. App. 1983).

Opinion

429 So.2d 550 (1983)

OPELOUSAS GENERAL HOSPITAL, Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
Augusta GUILLORY, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 82-545.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Third Circuit.

March 21, 1983.

Otha Curtis Nelson, Baton Rouge, for defendant-appellant.

Watson, Blanche, Wilson & Posner, Mary Thompson and George Anding, Jr., Baton Rouge, Voorhies & Labbe, Marc Judice, Lafayette, for plaintiff-appellee.

Before DOMENGEAUX, FORET and DOUCET, JJ.

FORET, Judge.

Opelousas General Hospital (plaintiff) instituted these proceedings seeking a declaratory judgment and injunction, naming Augusta Guillory as defendant thereto. Plaintiff sought a judgment declaring defendant's medical malpractice action against it to have prescribed, and an injunction prohibiting defendant from filing any further claims or proceedings against it based upon that cause of action.

*551 The trial court, after hearing plaintiff's rule to show cause, rendered judgment in favor of plaintiff, declaring defendant's medical malpractice claim against it, as set forth in the proposed claim filed with the Commissioner of Insurance on April 16, 1981, to have prescribed. The trial court further rendered judgment in favor of plaintiff, permanently enjoining defendant from filing any further claims or proceedings against it based upon or arising out of the cause of action declared to have prescribed.

Defendant appeals from that judgment, contending that the trial court committed manifest error in finding that her claim against plaintiff had prescribed.

FACTS

In order to provide the reader with a better understanding of the issue involved here, we will quote the facts from an earlier opinion rendered by this Court in Guillory v. Buller, 398 So.2d 43 (La.App. 3 Cir.1981). That case concerned an appeal by defendant from the trial court's granting of a directed verdict in favor of Dr. Daniel H. Buller and Dr. Tyler T. Kent, dismissing defendant's medical malpractice action against them. We affirmed the trial court judgment. The facts, as set forth in Guillory v. Buller, are as follows:

"This is a medical malpractice suit brought by Augusta Guillory against Dr. Daniel H. Buller and Dr. Tyler T. Kent in connection with two surgical procedures performed on the plaintiff's left armpit by Doctors Buller and Kent on May 30th and July 20, 1978, respectively.
"On May 29, 1978, plaintiff was admitted to Opelousas General Hospital by her doctor, Dr. August C. Terrence, for treatment of an infection in her left armpit. At Doctor Terrence's request, Doctor Buller, a general surgeon, examined plaintiff the next day, May 30th, and diagnosed her condition as the disease of axillary hidradenitis suppurativa with an abscess formation. In layman's terms, Doctor Buller described plaintiff's condition as "a nest of boils in the armpit." The condition was also described as an infection of the sweat glands in the armpit.
"Doctor Buller explained that before he could provide treatment that would cure plaintiff of her disease, the infection had to be cleared. To achieve this result, he proceeded to drain the pus from the abscess. The next day, the plaintiff was discharged from the hospital and was told to return at a later date so Doctor Buller could check her progress.
"Doctor Buller next examined plaintiff on July 18, 1978, and determined that her infection had been cleared by the minor surgery performed on May 30th. He felt that the chronic or long term phase of her disease would best be treated by removal of all of the diseased tissue and so recommended this to plaintiff. He also referred to her [sic] Doctor Kent for the surgery because he felt Doctor Kent was more capable than he to perform the particular operation that plaintiff needed.
"On July 20, 1978, Doctor Kent removed the entire hair-bearing portion of plaintiff's left armpit, an area measuring 9 centimeters by 4 centimeters (about 6 square inches). The surgery was designed to rid plaintiff of her disease. He then closed the wound by suturing the remaining skin together. He allowed plaintiff to wear a sling to immobilize her arm while the skin healed together. Plaintiff was discharged from the hospital on July 24th but returned on July 27th, August 3rd, and August 8th, during which visits Doctor Kent performed piecemeal removal of the sutures, a common procedure for this type of operation. Doctor Kent also examined plaintiff on August 22nd and encouraged her to use and exercise her arm in order to restore its mobility.1
"Doctor Kent saw the plaintiff for the last time on September 26, 1978. At this examination he was dissatisfied with the progress she had made on her own and recommended that she undergo physical therapy. However, instead of following his advice (she did not keep the physical therapy appointment made by Doctor *552 Kent), she sought the advice of other doctors."

Defendant's claim against plaintiff is set forth in paragraphs X and XI of her proposed petition, which read as follows:

"X.
"Plaintiff claims that Opelousas General Hospital through Dr. D.H. Buller and Dr. Tyler J. Kent were negligent in that they failed to properly inform her as to the amount of skin that would be removed from her armpit or prescribe appropriate therapy for her, as a result the Plaintiff was required to have surgery to correct or attempt to correct the hospital and it's staff breach of contract and duty owed to plaintiff.
"XI.
"Opelousas General Hospital was also negligent in failing to keep proper records of scheduled appointments for the plaintiff causing her not to be examined by the doctor on the date she was supposed to have been after surgery."

With regard to the two paragraphs reproduced above, it must be remembered that "plaintiff" refers to Augusta Guillory (defendant in the action sub judice).

As did the trial court, we find it strange that plaintiff (Opelousas General Hospital) failed to plead that defendant was unable to hold it liable to her under the doctrine of respondeat superior, as its two alleged employees (Drs. Buller and Kent) were found to have committed no acts of negligence in their treatment of defendant. See Guillory v. Buller, supra.

However, as plaintiff failed to raise this issue in the trial court, we will give no consideration to it on appeal.

PRESCRIPTION

Defendant contends that the trial court committed manifest error in finding that her medical malpractice claim against plaintiff had prescribed. Defendant argues that she was unaware of the fact that she had a medical malpractice claim against plaintiff until April 22, 1980, the last day of the trial, which resulted in the judgment affirmed in Guillory v. Buller, supra.

LSA-R.S. 9:5628 provides:

"§ 5628. Actions for medical malpractice

A. No action for damages for injury or death against any physician, chiropractor, dentist, or hospital duly licensed under the laws of this state, whether based upon tort, or breach of contract, or otherwise,

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

Related

In Re: Dana Broussard Medical Review Panel
Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2023
Hume v. Prestige Care, L.L.C.
165 So. 3d 233 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2015)
LeBouef v. O'Donnell
106 So. 3d 1160 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2012)
Beverly Lebouef v. Dr. Joseph O'Donnell
Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2012
Brown v. Schreiner
81 So. 3d 705 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2011)
Artholee v. Trinity Universal Insurance Co. of Kansas
3 So. 3d 611 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2009)
Teague v. St. Paul Fire and Marine Ins. Co.
974 So. 2d 1266 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 2008)
Williams v. Louisiana Medical Mutual Insurance Co.
866 So. 2d 306 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2004)
Carter v. Haygood
865 So. 2d 824 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2003)
Cadogan v. McClanahan
861 So. 2d 250 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2003)
Williams v. Tri-State Physical Therapy Inc.
850 So. 2d 991 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2003)
Oakley v. Stelly
838 So. 2d 911 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2003)
Medical Review Panel Proceeding of Poche v. Bloom
834 So. 2d 600 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2002)
Campo v. Correa
828 So. 2d 502 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 2002)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
429 So. 2d 550, 1983 La. App. LEXIS 8075, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/opelousas-general-hosp-v-guillory-lactapp-1983.