Quinn v. Memorial Medical Center

764 S.W.2d 915, 1989 Tex. App. LEXIS 193, 1989 WL 7546
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedFebruary 2, 1989
Docket13-88-213-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by35 cases

This text of 764 S.W.2d 915 (Quinn v. Memorial Medical Center) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Quinn v. Memorial Medical Center, 764 S.W.2d 915, 1989 Tex. App. LEXIS 193, 1989 WL 7546 (Tex. Ct. App. 1989).

Opinion

OPINION

UTTER, Justice.

Appellant Venetia Quinn filed suit against appellees Memorial Medical Center (MMC) and Nueces County Hospital District (NCHD) for damages pursuant to the Texas Tort Claims Act, Tex.Civ.Prac. & Rem.Code Ann. § 101.021 (Vernon 1986) and the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, Tex.Bus. & Com.Code Ann. § 17.41 et seq. (Vernon 1987). 1 The trial court granted appellees’ motion for summary judgment and ordered that appellant take nothing in her suit against appellees.

Appellant was dating Dr. Julio De Pena, a physician resident-in-training at MMC, when she allegedly became pregnant with De Pena’s child. On or about March 15, 1985, De Pena telephoned John Villarreal, the pharmacist on duty in the MMC pharmacy, told Villarreal he was working in the emergency room, and inquired as to the availability of prostin E-2, a hormone used to induce abortion. Villarreal informed De Pena that the MMC pharmacy did have that hormone in stock. Shortly thereafter, De Pena went to the pharmacy and wrote a prescription for and procured the hormone, but failed to write a patient’s name on the prescription. Villarreal called this to De Pena’s attention, but De Pena told him to use De Pena’s name and that he would settle up later. De Pena was subsequently charged for the hormone.

De Pena drove over to appellant’s apartment and administered the hormone to appellant. An abortion resulted. The following day, however, appellant was taken to Humana Hospital because of hemorrhaging, and a dilatation and curettage had to be performed to remove any remaining products of conception.

The record reveals that although De Pena was authorized to write prescriptions at the MMC pharmacy, both his MMC contract and his institutional permit restricted him to practicing medicine only inside a hospital because he was a physician in the transitional program. Wheeler B. Lipes, the president and administrator of NCHD, testified by affidavit that De Pena was neither authorized nor granted permission to take any drug from MMC for use on or by other persons or to perform any medical care or treatment, including an abortion, outside of the hospital.

When reviewing the granting of a motion for summary judgment, we must consider the summary judgment evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmovant and indulge every reasonable inference in its *917 favor. Nixon v. Mr. Property Management Co., 690 S.W.2d 546, 548-49 (Tex.1985); McCord v. Memorial Medical Center Hospital, 750 S.W.2d 362, 363 (Tex.App. — Corpus Christi 1988, no writ). The movant’s burden is to show that no genuine issue of material fact exists and that it is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. MMP, Ltd. v. Jones, 710 S.W.2d 59, 60 (Tex.1986); Major Investments, Inc. v. De Castillo, 673 S.W.2d 276, 279 (Tex.App.—Corpus Christi 1984, writ ref d n.r.e.).

By her third point of error, appellant contends the trial court erred in granting summary judgment because a fact issue exists concerning whether negligence in the use or dispensing of a drug constitutes a “use of tangible property” under the waiver provisions of the Texas Tort Claims Act. By her first and second points of error, appellant contends the trial court erred in granting appellees’ motion for summary judgment because a fact issue exists concerning whether the appellees’ pharmacy’s alleged negligence in filling the prescription proximately caused appellant’s injuries.

The Nueces County Hospital District, doing business as Memorial Medical Center, is a political subdivision of the State of Texas. Salcedo v. El Paso Hospital District, 659 S.W.2d 30, 31 (Tex.1983); Sharpe v. Memorial Hospital of Galveston County, 743 S.W.2d 717, 718 (Tex.App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 1987, no writ); Tex.Rev.Civ. Stat.Ann. art. 4494n (Vernon Supp.1989). Therefore, appellees are not liable for damages unless the negligent or wrongful act alleged falls within the statutory waiver of immunity. Salcedo, 659 S.W.2d at 31; Bourne v. Nueces County Hospital District, 749 S.W.2d 630, 632 (Tex.App.—Corpus Christi 1988, writ denied). Specifically, Tex.Civ.Prac. & Rem.Code Ann. § 101.021 (Vernon 1986) provides for a waiver of governmental immunity in three general areas: damages resulting from the use of publicly owned vehicles; injuries caused by a condition or use of tangible personal property; and injuries caused by a condition or use of real property. Seiler v. Guadalupe Valley Hospital, 709 S.W.2d 37, 38 (Tex.App.—Corpus Christi 1986, writ ref’d n.r.e.); Floyd v. Willacy County Hospital District, 706 S.W.2d 731, 732 (Tex. App.—Corpus Christi 1986, writ ref’d n.r. e.). The determination of whether there has been a statutory waiver of immunity is a question of law for the court to decide based on the facts of the case.

We hold that the dispensing of a drug by a hospital pharmacy is a use of tangible personal property and falls within the waiver provisions of the statute. See Salcedo, 659 S.W.2d at 32; Overton Memorial Hospital v. McGuire, 518 S.W.2d 528, 529 (Tex.1975); Tex.Civ.Prac. & Rem.Code Ann. § 101.109 note (Vernon 1986). Appellees argue that they did not waive immunity because the hormone was used by an off-duty employee outside its premises after all possession, ownership and control by appel-lees had ceased. Under the facts in this case, the negligent acts alleged against ap-pellees took place when the MMC pharmacy did, in fact, possess, own and control the hormone.

We now turn to the question of whether a fact issue exists concerning whether appellees’ alleged negligence in filling the prescription proximately caused appellant’s injuries. Proximate cause consists of two elements, cause in fact and foreseeability. Nixon, 690 S.W.2d at 549. Cause in fact denotes that the negligent act or omission was a substantial factor in bringing about the injury and without which no harm would have been incurred. Id. Foreseeability means that a person of ordinary intelligence should have anticipated the danger to others created by his negligent act. Id. at 549-50. The act of a third person which intervenes and contributes a condition necessary to the injurious effect of the original negligence will not excuse the first wrongdoer if such act should have been foreseen. Id. at 550; Clark v. Waggoner,

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Bluebook (online)
764 S.W.2d 915, 1989 Tex. App. LEXIS 193, 1989 WL 7546, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/quinn-v-memorial-medical-center-texapp-1989.