Rinando v. Stern

831 S.W.2d 459, 1992 Tex. App. LEXIS 1196, 1992 WL 99381
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMay 14, 1992
DocketNo. A14-91-01102-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 831 S.W.2d 459 (Rinando v. Stern) 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
Rinando v. Stern, 831 S.W.2d 459, 1992 Tex. App. LEXIS 1196, 1992 WL 99381 (Tex. Ct. App. 1992).

Opinion

OPINION

SEARS, Justice.

Vincent Rinando brings this appeal from a summary judgment granted in favor of Dr. Juan Stern. Appellant brought a suit for medical malpractice against Dr. Stern, a urologist. Appellant complained that ap-pellee breached the duty of care owed to appellant by: (1) failing to recognize that his kidney stone had not been crushed, (2) failing to inform him of this fact; and, (3) failing to provide follow-up treatment. Appellant claimed that the breach resulted in pain, frustration, and anxiety for which he sought $212,000.00 in damages. Appellee filed a motion for summary judgment supported by the affidavit of a medical expert, and the court granted the motion on July 18, 1991. We affirm.

In two points of error, appellant contends that the trial court erred in granting a summary judgment on the basis that there was no evidence of negligence in appellee’s failure to inform appellant that the kidney stone was not destroyed, or in appellee’s failure to administer follow-up treatment.

The record reflects that appellant entered Park Plaza Hospital on May 15, 1988, with acute pain, nausea, and vomiting. After performing blood tests and x-rays, appellant was diagnosed with having a stone in the left kidney. Because the stone was one half inch in size and could not be passed naturally, Dr. Stern determined that further treatment was required, and recommended a procedure known as Extracorpo-real Shock Wave Lithotripsy (ESWL), in which shock waves are used to disintegrate kidney stones which can then be expelled from the body.

On the evening of May 19, 1988, appellant entered St. Joseph Hospital for the ESWL procedure. Dr. Stern advised appel[461]*461lant of possible complications and of the probability of success. Appellant was positioned properly, given the maximum allowable dose (2,000 shocks), and was released the following day.

On May 21, 1988, appellant was readmitted to Park Plaza Hospital complaining of abdominal pain. At that time, Dr. Stern suspected that a stent which had been placed in his kidney was causing discomfort, or that a blood clot might be blocking the bladder. X-rays revealed that the calcification was still present in the left kidney. However, due to the blood clots in appellant’s kidney, it was not possible to determine if the stone was actually fragmented. Dr. Stern stated he cannot determine the status of a stone until seven to ten days after the ESWL.

Appellant was released on May 25, 1988, and on the following morning, Dr. Stern spoke with Mrs. Rinando about appellant’s continuing discomfort. After that, Mr. Ri-nando withdrew from Dr. Stern’s care, and on May 27, 1988, sought medical treatment elsewhere. Two subsequent ESWL procedures finally destroyed appellant’s kidney stone. Appellant then brought suit against Dr. Stern for misrepresentation, and for the lack of follow up treatment which resulted in pain and mental anguish.

In his motion for summary judgment, appellee argued that appellant had not proved a breach of medically accepted standard of care, nor a causal connection between the care provided and the alleged injury. Attached to his motion was the affidavit of Dr. Robert Kaminsky, a board certified urologist. Dr. Kaminsky’s affidavit listed his qualifications, the standard procedure for removing kidney stones by ESWL, and a summary of the treatment used on Mr. Rinando. The affidavit also set forth the standard of care for urologists using the ESWL procedure. Dr. Ka-minsky’s opinion was that Dr. Stern did nothing which deviated from the standard practice.

Dr. Kaminsky also stated that it was not unusual for a patient to have to undergo more than one procedure to fragment a kidney stone. Additionally, he said the effectiveness of the procedure is often not known for weeks. Dr. Stern never saw appellant again after his release on the 25th of May, which was six days after the ESWL procedure was administered. According to Dr. Kaminsky’s expert opinion, an assessment of the stone was not possible in this short period of time. Furthermore, even if Dr. Stern mistakenly informed appellant that the stone had been crushed, Dr. Kaminsky noted that this would not be a violation of the standard of care.

As to the allegation of Dr. Stern’s failure to provide follow-up treatment, a review of the medical records and the depositions shows that appellant never returned for follow-up treatment.

Appellee’s affidavit in support of the motion for summary judgment was not controverted by any expert medical testimony. Appellant’s response consisted only of his own affidavit stating that Dr. Stem had told him the stone had been crushed. His only other summary judgment proof consisted of Dr. Stern’s deposition. Appellant specifically points to the following exchange and asserts that Dr. Stern’s own testimony establishes that he did not meet the medical standard of care in Harris County:

Q. And if you knew that the stone had not been crushed, and did not tell your patient as soon as you were certain, that would not meet the normal medical standard of Harris County, would it?
A. If we are talking about Mr. Rinan-do’s case, he was informed that the calcification was still there, it was in the same position, it probably will require further treatment, but that that was a decision we can make once all the acute process changed and his condition from the postoperative trauma improved. ******
Q. Okay. Let’s assume for the purpose of my question that you know a patient has a stone that the ESWL has been attempted on, and that that stone was not crushed?
A. We didn’t know that at the time.
[462]*462Q.I’m just asking you to assume this with me. If you know that the stone is not crushed, and you’re certain that it’s not crushed, and you have evidence to that effect, would you agree with me that it is not good medical practice if you do not inform the patient as soon as possible?
MS. SMITH: I’m going to have to object to the “as soon as possible”, with the criteria that he tried to explain that and put some form of time constraint on it, because of what the facts may be as to each patient.
Q. (By Mr. Maida) All right, sir. As soon as you are convinced in your own mind that the stone has not been crushed after an ESWL procedure—
A. Yes, sir.
Q. —would you agree with me that you should tell your patient that?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. And to not do so would not conform with good medical practice, would it?
A. At least not with my standard, (emphasis added).

A motion for summary judgment should be granted if the movant establishes, as a matter of law, that there is no genuine issue of material fact. Tex. R.Civ.P. 166a. The reviewing court must indulge all inferences and resolve all doubts in the non-movant’s favor. Nixon v. Mr. Property Management Co., 690 S.W.2d 546, 548-9 (Tex.1985). Further, in medical malpractice suits, negligence and proximate cause must be proven by expert testimony. Tilotta v. Goodall, 752 S.W.2d 160

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
831 S.W.2d 459, 1992 Tex. App. LEXIS 1196, 1992 WL 99381, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rinando-v-stern-texapp-1992.