Thorne v. Doe

724 So. 2d 242, 98 La.App. 4 Cir. 1083, 1998 La. App. LEXIS 3342, 1998 WL 802582
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedNovember 18, 1998
DocketNos. 98-CA-1083, 98-CA-1084
StatusPublished

This text of 724 So. 2d 242 (Thorne v. Doe) 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
Thorne v. Doe, 724 So. 2d 242, 98 La.App. 4 Cir. 1083, 1998 La. App. LEXIS 3342, 1998 WL 802582 (La. Ct. App. 1998).

Opinion

JjKLEES, Judge.

Plaintiffs, Stephen and Judy Thorne, brought this medical malpractice action against The Administrators of the Tulane Educational Fund, d/b/a Tulane Medical Center Hospital and Clinic (hereinafter “Tulane”), pursuant to the provisions of the Louisiana Medical Malpractice Act, La. R.S. 40.1299.41, et seq. Prior to trial, the trial court granted defendant’s exception of no cause and/or right of action as to one of the claims asserted in the petition. Following a jury trial in which the jury found no breach of the applicable standard of care, the trial court entered judgment dismissing the remainder of plaintiffs’ claims. It is from these judgments that plaintiffs now appeal. We affirm.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Stephen Thorne was born with hemophilia, a rare bleeding disorder that is caused by the insufficiency of a blood protein known as Factor VIII. Absence of this clotting factor results in episodes of abnormal bleeding. Stephen Thorne requires blood products containing Factor VIII in order to stop these abnormal bleeding episodes. Such bleeding episodes in a hemophiliac may result in the ^destruction of the surface of the patient’s joints, producing arthritic conditions and sometimes requiring joint replacement.

The record in this case indicates that Stephen Thorne was first seen at Tulane Medical Center in 1988 for difficulty in his joints, particularly in his right knee. He returned in 1992 and was seen by Dr. Ollie Edmunds, an orthopedist, who advised Mr. Thorne that [244]*244he would need a total right knee replacement.

On August 16, 1992, Mr. Thorne was admitted to Tulane Medical Center Hospital by Dr. Edmunds for the purpose of undergoing this surgery. On August 17, 1992, Mr. Thorne underwent a right total knee arthro-plasty performed by Dr. Edmunds without complication. Prior to surgery, an in-dwelling Foley catheter was inserted without difficulty to monitor the patient’s urine output. Mr. Thorne’s Foley catheter was discontinued on the morning of August 18,1992.

On the afternoon of August 18, 1992, Mr. Thorne was unable to urinate and his physician ordered an in-and-out catheterization. At 4:00 p.m., this catheterization was performed without difficulty. At approximately 9:00 p.m. on the same date, Mr. Thorne was again unable to urinate and notified the nursing staff of this problem. Nurse Betty Fom-by1 examined Mr. Thorne and found extreme bladder distension. Nurse Fomby then obtained a catheter kit and a pair of gloves and returned to Mr. Thorne’s room.

At this time, Mr. Thorne’s mother, Verla Thorne was present in the hospital room. Both Stephen Thorne and Verla Thorne testified that they observed Nurse Fomby’s fingernails, which both witnesses testified were approximately two inches long and painted with bright polish. Stephen Thorne testified that several of Nurse [tFomby’s fingernails broke through the fingertips of the gloves while she was performing the sterile procedure. He stated that Nurse Fomby then put on a second pair of gloves, and her fingernails broke through the fingertips of the second pair of gloves as well. Although Mrs. Thorne stated she did not remain in the hospital room for the entire catheterization procedure, she also observed Nurse Fomby’s fingernails break through the gloves she was wearing.

At trial, Betty Fomby testified that her nails were not two inches long as claimed by plaintiff. She further disputed plaintiffs account of the factual situation. Nurse Fomby testified that only one of her fingernails broke through on the first pair of gloves, and it did not occur during the sterile portion of the procedure. She stated that the second pair of gloves she wore during the remainder of the procedure remained intact.

Nurse Fomby attempted to catheterize Mr. Thorne, but he experienced pain in the process and she discontinued the procedure. Nurse Fomby then called in another nurse, Ellen Cassreino, who performed the cathet-erization without difficulty. Nurse Fomby remained in the room during this procedure and charted that the catheterization was performed. However, there was no notation in the chart that Nurse Fomby experienced difficulty with the procedure or that the cathet-erization was eventually performed by Nurse , Cassreino. Further, the record indicates that no incident report was prepared with regard to any violation of sterile procedure in the catheterization of Stephen Thorne.

Several days following the catheterization procedure, Mr. Thorne began to experience the “shakes,” high fever, and all-over body tenderness. A blood culture was drawn on August 23,1992, and it revealed the presence of a rare blood-stream ^infection known as serratia marcessans. Mr. Thorne was then placed on two types of antibiotics, and the infection was eventually cleared. However, the infection increased the length of Mr. Thorne’s hospital stay and caused him to suffer physical and mental pain. Mr. Thorne claims that the infection was caused by the breach in sterile procedure during the cath-eterization performed by Nurse Fomby.

Plaintiffs initially filed a request for review by a Medical Review Panel, alleging that Tulane was negligent in the placement of Stephen Thorne’s urinary catheter and that defendant failed to obtain informed consent for the catheterization. Plaintiffs alleged further that Tulane’s alleged negligence in the placement of the catheter caused Stephen Thorne to develop a serious and life-threatening infection during his hospitalization at Tulane.

[245]*245The Medical Review Panel rendered an opinion finding that the evidence did not support a conclusion that defendant failed to meet the applicable standard of care with regard to the issue of informed consent. However, the panel found that there was a material issue of fact as to whether the nurse who placed the urinary catheter had violated her standard of care. .

Following the rendition of this opinion, plaintiffs filed a Petition for Damages against Tulane in Civil District Court alleging medical malpractice in the placement of the urinary catheter. Stephen Thorne claimed he suffered damages in additional hospital expenses, physical and mental pain and fear for his life due to the infection. Judy Thorne, Stephen’s wife, asserted a claim for loss of consortium. Stephen Thorne further alleged the defendant was liable for overcharging him for a blood clotting product which was administered to him during his hospitalization.

(¡Prior to trial, defendant filed an Exception of No Cause and/or Right of Action on plaintiffs’ claim for price overcharging. This exception was maintained by the trial court on May 1, 1997. Plaintiffs’ claims for medical malpractice proceeded to trial by jury on May 5 - 14,1997.

Following trial, the jury returned a verdict in favor of defendant and against plaintiffs. In response to the jury interrogatories, the jury found that Nurse Fomby had not violated the appropriate standard of care in performing the catheterization procedure on Stephen Thorne. The jury therefore did not reach the issue of the causation of the infection or whether Nurse Fomby was an employee of Tulane. On June 9, 1997, the trial court entered judgment based on this verdict.

On appeal, plaintiffs present three issues for review by this Court:

1. Whether the trial court gave an erroneous jury instruction on the standard of care required in this ease.
2.

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724 So. 2d 242, 98 La.App. 4 Cir. 1083, 1998 La. App. LEXIS 3342, 1998 WL 802582, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/thorne-v-doe-lactapp-1998.