Riggio v. Katz

64 Pa. D. & C.4th 395, 2003 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 178
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Philadelphia County
DecidedOctober 15, 2003
Docketno. 338
StatusPublished

This text of 64 Pa. D. & C.4th 395 (Riggio v. Katz) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Philadelphia County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Riggio v. Katz, 64 Pa. D. & C.4th 395, 2003 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 178 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2003).

Opinion

ABRAMSON, J.,

Plaintiff has appealed this court’s order which granted defendants’ [397]*397petition to transfer venue based on the newly amended Pennsylvania Rule of Civil Procedure 1006(a.l) and which transferred the case to Montgomery County. The newly amended Pa.R.C.P. 1006(a.l) states that “a medical professional liability action may be brought against a health care provider for a medical professional liability claim only in a county in which the cause of action arose.” Pa.R.C.P. 1006(a.l).

In her complaint, plaintiff alleges that the defendants’ failure to properly interpret a positive urine culture and laboratory test results that revealed the presence of staphylococcus aureus caused her alleged injuries. This court found that venue was improper in Philadelphia County because all the alleged acts of medical malpractice occurred in Montgomery County, and that plaintiff’s injury occurred simultaneously with the alleged acts of malpractice. The court found that the only connection to Philadelphia County was that it was the county in which plaintiff’s injury manifested itself; it was not the county in which the injury occurred.

Thus, this court found that plaintiff’s cause of action arose in the county in which the alleged negligence occurred and transferred venue to Montgomery County. Even assuming, arguendo, that the injury was not simultaneous with the alleged acts of malpractice, but occurred in Philadelphia, this court held that the plaintiff’s cause of action “arose” where the defendants’ alleged negligent acts occurred, not where the plaintiff’s injury occurred. Moreover, this court found that the purpose of the new venue rule for medical malpractice claims promulgated by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court would be [398]*398frustrated if health care providers could be hauled into forums with which they have no contacts. This appeal presents two issues: (1) whether this court erred in finding that plaintiff’s cause of action arose in Montgomery County, the county in which the alleged malpractice occurred, and consequently granting the defendants’ petition to transfer to Montgomery County under venue Rule 1006(a.l); and (2) whether this court erred in ordering plaintiff to pay all costs related to the transfer of the record when venue was not disputed through preliminary objections.

STATEMENT OF FACTS

On March 13, 2001, plaintiff, at the time a resident of Philadelphia County, was admitted to the emergency room at Elkins Park Hospital in Montgomery County. Plaintiff complained of nausea, vomiting and diarrhea that had persisted for the previous three days, as well as shortness of breath and epigastric pain. Elkins Park Hospital admitted plaintiff that day. Defendants Dr. Allan S. Katz, Dr. Maria Antoniou and Dr. Daniel J. Sher evaluated and treated plaintiff during her stay at Elkins Park Hospital.

On plaintiff’s admission note, Dr. Katz, the attending physician at the time, evaluated plaintiff’s condition to be “gastroenteritis, possibly viral in etiology, or bacterial.” Dr. Katz noted on the admission note that a urinalysis study indicated the presence of “3+ bacteria.” A subsequent laboratory report for the urinalysis confirmed the presence of the bacteria. A urine culture performed on March 13, 2001 revealed staphylococcus aureus.

[399]*399In her complaint, plaintiff alleges that the defendant physicians and Tenet Health System never advised her of the abnormal urinalysis results or the urine culture results that revealed the presence of staphylococcus aureus. Additionally, she alleges that defendants failed to administer or prescribe antibiotics, to order an additional urinalysis or urine culture, and to request or obtain an infectious disease consultation.

Plaintiff was discharged from Elkins Park Hospital with a principal diagnosis listed as “dehydration due to gastroenteritis.” The discharge summary dated March 16, 2001 that was signed by Dr. Antoniou stated that the probable cause of plaintiff’s dehydration was “viral gastritis.” Plaintiff’s complaint alleges that the defendants’ discharge summary incorrectly stated that “cultures were sent off which were negative” and that the complete blood count was normal on the day of discharge. In addition, plaintiff alleges that a March 16, 2001 letter from Dr. Antoniou to plaintiff’s primary care physician incorrectly stated that “cultures were sent and were negative,” despite the urine culture that revealed staphylococcus aureus.

Two days later, on March 18,2001, plaintiff was transported to Nazareth Hospital emergency room in Philadelphia County. She was weak, lethargic and non-verbal. She had rales throughout her lungs. During this stay at Nazareth Hospital, plaintiff required mechanical ventilation and intubation. She was diagnosed with staphylococcus aureus pneumonia, septicemia, myocardial infarction, renal failure, respiratory failure, pulmonary collapse and depression. Subsequently, plaintiff spent two [400]*400weeks in a nursing facility where she required a PEG tube for eating.

Since the incident, plaintiff claims to have sustained severe and permanent injuries to her bones, skin, muscles, nerves, tendons, tissues and blood vessels. In addition, she alleges septic shock, hypotension, dehydration, acute ischemic renal failure, respiratory failure, pneumonia, myocardial infarction, pulmonary collapse and acute change in mental status, all as the result of the treatment she received or did not receive from Elkins Park Hospital.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

A trial court’s ruling on venue will not be disturbed if the decision is reasonable in light of the facts. Mathues v. Tim-Bar Corp., 438 Pa. Super. 231, 652 A.2d 349 (1994). Furthermore, a decision to transfer venue will not be reversed unless the trial court abused its discretion. Id., 438 Pa. Super. at 234, 652 A.2d at 351.

THE INJURY OCCURRED SIMULTANEOUSLY WITH THE ALLEGED MALPRACTICE

According to the allegations in plaintiff’s complaint, the defendant physicians and health center were negligent in failing to provide her with the authentic results of her urinalysis that revealed a bacterial infection and in failing to prescribe the medication necessary to treat her then existing condition. Plaintiff alleges that because the defendants failed to prescribe medication, her infection went untreated, eventually leading to her emergency room admittance in Philadelphia County two days later. [401]*401The injury was an infection that went untreated. To say that the injury occurred in a place or in Philadelphia is a fiction where the matter at hand is an infection, and therefore, a process. The process of infection existed and proceeded at the time the infection allegedly went untreated. Therefore, this court finds that the plaintiff’s injury began to accrue at the time the defendants allegedly failed to prescribe the proper treatment. See discussion of Green v. North Arundel Hospital Association Inc., 266 Md. 597, 785 A.2d 361 (2001); Forrest County General Hospital v. Conway, 700 So.2d 324 (Miss. 1997). As a result of the alleged malpractice, plaintiff’s infection began to worsen from the time of the misdiagnosis, ultimately leading to her emergency visit to the hospital two days later in Philadelphia.

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Bluebook (online)
64 Pa. D. & C.4th 395, 2003 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 178, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/riggio-v-katz-pactcomplphilad-2003.