Richard v. Parish Anesthesia Associates, Ltd.

106 So. 3d 730, 2012 WL 6560596
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedDecember 14, 2012
DocketNo. 2012-CA-0513
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 106 So. 3d 730 (Richard v. Parish Anesthesia Associates, Ltd.) 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
Richard v. Parish Anesthesia Associates, Ltd., 106 So. 3d 730, 2012 WL 6560596 (La. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

CHARLES R. JONES, Chief Judge.

|/The Appellants, Parish Anesthesia Associates, Ltd., and Dr. Jayachandra Indu-ra, seek review of the judgment of the district court holding that the Appellants were liable to the Appellee, Arnold Richard, for medical malpractice. Finding that the district court did not err, we affirm the judgment of the district court.

Mr. Richard is a chronic pain patient who was implanted with a Codman 3000 infusion pump (“Codman pump”), which is an intrathecal pump used to deliver a dosage of pain medications directly to the spinal fluid. Mr. Richard received a medication solution comprised of morphine, ba-clofen, and clonidine in monthly pump refills, which were routinely injected into a reserve chamber of the Codman pump and gradually released into his spinal canal over the course of a month.

In February 2006, Mr. Richard presented to East Jefferson General Hospital (“EJGH”) for his monthly Codman pump refill. Dr. Jayachandra Indura, an employee of Parish Anesthesia Associates, Ltd., was the attending anesthesiologist who performed the refill procedure for Mr. Richard. No one witnessed the refill | ¡.procedure performed by Dr. Indura. Within minutes of receiving his pump refill, Mr. Richard lost consciousness and became unresponsive. Mr. Richard was returned to the procedure room where Dr. Indura aspirated approximately 18.5 ml of fluid from Mr. Richard’s pump. Thereafter, Mr. Richard was rushed to the emergency room of EJGH, and later remained in the intensive care unit until he was discharged from the hospital on February 8, 2006. It is uncontested that Mr. Richard suffered from an overdose as a result of the refill procedure.

A week after his discharge, Mr. Richard was treated at St. Tammany Hospital for dehydration, as well as other complications. Subsequently, in June 2006, Mr. Richard again sought treatment at St. Tammany Hospital after having a seizure at home.

Mr. Richard filed suit against the Appellants in May 2008, alleging that Dr. Indura caused the overdose by negligently refilling the Codman pump, he breached the acceptable standard of care owed to Mr. Richard, and caused the overdose. He further alleged that Dr. Induru’s employer, Parish Anesthesia Associates, Ltd., was jointly, severally, solidarity, and vicariously liable for the actions of Dr. Indura. Trial was held in October 2011, and the district court later rendered judgment in favor of Mr. Richard against the Appellants in the amount of $350,000 in damages resulting from the negligent administration of a morphine/baelofen/clonidine solution in addition to $98,826.75 for medical expenses.

The district court explained that “for the following reasons this court finds that physician error was the cause of the overdose” of Mr. Richard:

By defendant’s (Dr. Induru’s) testimony, the refill kit contained one needle called a non-coring needle which, when inserted into the implanted pump, would
[733]*733contact a plate at the bottom of the apparatus, thereby allowing for the solution to flow into the underlying | .¡reservoir. Use of this non-coring needle prevents any fluid from entering into the bolus path — that is, the path that leads directly into the spinal canal.
According to defendant, the refill kit excludes a needle known as a bolus needle. Rather, defendant asserts that the needle must be specially ordered. Contrastingly, Dr. Paul Hubbell, III, testified that this needle is included in the kit. Either way, this instrument is used only when the physician seeks to inject medication directly into the spinal canal.
Defendant also testified as follows: On the day of the refill, defendant opened the kit, sterilized and draped the area. He then began the procedure, inserting the non-coring needle and removing approximately 1.5 ml of residual fluid still in the pump. At that time, the pump was working properly. He then injected 18 ml of solution into the reservoir. After plaintiff lost consciousness and was taken to the emergency room, defendant aspirated 18 ml of the solution from the pump; apparently, he removed all that he injected. The extracted fluid was then discarded without any testing to determine the nature of its composition, whether the extract was solely comprised of the morphine/baclofen/clo-nidine solution or a combination of this cocktail and spinal fluid. At no point after the plaintiff lost consciousness did the defendant chart in the plaintiffs medical records that he experienced a pump malfunction.
The defendant’s account fails to satisfy this Court. Defendant proposes that he aspirated the morphine/baclofen/clo-nidine solution in its entirety. However, this theory falls short of satisfactorily explaining how the defendant was able to aspirate 18 ml of the morphine/baclo-fen/clonidine solution fi'om the pump and the plaintiff overdose on the same only moments after receiving his injection. Further, no evidence produced at trial indicated that the pump malfunctioned. Indeed, Dr. Hubbell testified that had the refill been properly performed plaintiff would not have overdosed. Thus, for these reasons, this court therefore finds that physician error caused plaintiffs overdose.

Subsequently, the parties filed a joint motion for new trial seeking to amend the judgment to limit the liability of the Appellants to the amount of $100,000 by 14virtue of their Patients Compensation Fund qualification. The district court granted the motion and rendered an amended judgment in December 2011, wherein the court ordered:

1. that the Appellants pay $100,000 in damages to Mr. Richard for negligent administration of a morphine/baclo-fen/clonidine solution;
2. awarded Mr. Richard $250,000 plus $98,826.75 from the Louisiana Patient’s Compensation Fund for medical expenses;
3. that the Appellants and the Louisiana Patient’s Compensation Fund pay Mr. Richard judicial interest as statutorily provided; and
4. that applicable court costs shall be awarded under La. C.C.P. art. 1920 at the time of the hearing upon an appropriate rule to show cause.

This timely appeal followed, and the Appellants raise four (4) assignments of error:

1. The district court committed legal error when it placed the burden of proof on the Appellants;
2. The district court committed legal error by finding negligence on the part of the Appellants based on circumstan[734]*734tial evidence alone even though Mr. Richard’s injury was of a kind which can occur in the absence of negligence in contradiction to the Supreme Court’s holding in Cangolosi [Cangelosi ] v. Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center, 564 So.2d 654 (La.1989);
8. The district court erred in finding that physical error was the most likely cause of Mr. Richard’s injuries, as illustrated by numerous statements in the Reasons for Judgment which are in direct contradiction to the record; and 4. The district court clearly erred in finding that Mr. Richard satisfied his burden of proving that the overdose was the cause of any alleged deterioration in his quality of life.

LThe manifest error rule applies in appeals of medical malpractice actions. Stamps v. Dunham, 07-0095, p. 4 (La.App. 4 Cir. 9/19/07), 968 So.2d 739, 743.

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106 So. 3d 730, 2012 WL 6560596, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/richard-v-parish-anesthesia-associates-ltd-lactapp-2012.