Tipton v. Isaacs

17 N.E.3d 292, 2014 Ind. App. LEXIS 438, 2014 WL 4384102
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedSeptember 5, 2014
DocketNo. 49A05-1311-CT-541
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 17 N.E.3d 292 (Tipton v. Isaacs) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Tipton v. Isaacs, 17 N.E.3d 292, 2014 Ind. App. LEXIS 438, 2014 WL 4384102 (Ind. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinion

OPINION

MAY, Judge.

Brenda K. Tipton appeals summary judgment for various healthcare providers she sued after her hysterectomy. As the consent form Tipton signed is determinative of all issues she raises on appeal, we affirm.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Tipton became a patient at St. Vincent Hospital Family Practice and OB/GYN Residency Clinic (“the Clinic”) in 2004. On three occasions, once in 2004 and twice in 2007, she was informed the Clinic was a residency program and that:

Residents are medical doctors who have graduated from medical school and are receiving specialty training in the fields of ... Women’s Health.... Staff doctors oversee the care provided by the resident doctor. Every case is discussed with a staff doctor and the staff doctor may see or examine the patient as well.

(App. at 276.)

Dr. Margaret Isaacs, a resident, first examined Tipton at the clinic in March 2008. In July 2008, Dr. Isaacs and another doctor operated on Tipton, and the surgical findings indicated Tipton had an increased risk of developing cervical cancer. Tipton was advised of several options, and she decided to undergo a hysterectomy.

On September 25, 2008, the day of the hysterectomy at St. Vincent Hospital (“the Hospital”), Tipton signed a “Consent to Surgery or Other Medical Procedure,” (id. at 218), that explicitly authorized Dr. Isaacs1 “and such assistants as may be selected by him or her to perform the ... [tjotal abdominal hysterectomy.” (Id.) She consented to “the presence, in the procedure room, of residents, interns, approved observers, students, and pharmacy, supply and equipment vendors who will witness and support the procedure being performed on me,” (id.), and to “the participation of medical, nursing, other health care students, residents, and interns in the procedure being performed on me. These individuals will participate under the direct supervision of my physician.” (Id.)

Dr. Isaacs, a resident, performed most of the surgery. She was present in the operating room during all of the surgery. Another resident, Dr. Christina Francis, performed the hysterectomy on one side of Tipton’s body but did not participate in the operation on the other side, or in the opening or closing procedures. Dr. James Minor supervised both residents. He was present for and assisted in the entire procedure. On October 1, Tipton was readmitted to the Hospital and on October 5 she underwent further surgery because of wound drainage and swelling.

Tipton brought a medical malpractice complaint against the Hospital and Doc[295]*295tors Isaacs, Francis, and Minor (collectively, “the doctors”) after completion of medical review panel proceedings. She alleged (1) the “failure of Dr. Francis to obtain any consent at all before performing surgery on [Tipton] was a battery,” (id. at 62), (2) the Hospital and each of the doctors had a duty to obtain her informed consent for the surgery, including “disclosure of the identities and qualifications of all physicians involved in performing the procedure, and the fact that Doctors Isaacs and Francis were still in training,” (id. at 63), and (3) Doctors Francis, Isaacs, and Minor were liable for “actual or constructive fraud or deceit,” (id.), because Dr. Francis entered the operating room, performed surgery, and left while Tipton was unconscious, “intentionally depriving her of the opportunity to be advised of or object to Dr. Francis performing surgery on her,” (id. at 64), and the other two doctors knowingly allowed Dr. Francis to do so and they did not tell Tipton in advance that Dr. Francis would be performing part of the surgery.

The trial court granted summary judgment for the defendants on all three counts.

DISCUSSION AND DECISION

When a grant or denial of summary judgment is challenged on appeal, the procedure and standard under Indiana law is clear. Our standard of review is the same as it is for the trial court. Manley v. Sherer, 992 N.E.2d 670, 673 (Ind.2013). The moving party bears the initial burden to make a prima facie showing that there are no genuine issues of material fact and that it is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Id. Summary judgment is improper if the moving party fails to carry its burden, but if it succeeds, then the non-moving party must come forward with evidence establishing there is a genuine issue of material fact. Id. We construe all factual inferences in favor of the non-moving party and resolve all doubts as to the existence of a material issue against the moving party. Id. An appellate court reviewing a challenged trial court summary judgment ruling is limited to the evidence designated before the trial court, see Ind. Trial Rule 56(H), but is constrained to neither the claims and arguments presented at trial nor the rationale of the trial court ruling. Id. We will reverse if the law has been incorrectly applied to the facts; otherwise, we will affirm a summary judgment on any theory supported by evidence in the record. Id. We are not limited to reviewing the trial court’s reasons for granting or denying summary judgment. Id.

1. Informed Consent

As Tipton consented to Dr. Francis’ participation in her surgery, summary judgment on Tipton’s informed consent count was not error. Lack of informed consent is a distinct theory of liability. Spar v. Cha, 907 N.E.2d 974, 979 (Ind.2009). Lack of informed consent to a harmful touching in medical malpractice cases was traditionally viewed as a battery claim. More recently, unless there is a complete lack of consent, the theory is regarded as a specific form of negligence for breach of the required standard of professional conduct.2 Id. Lack of informed consent is premised on the physician’s duty to disclose to the patient material facts relevant to the patient’s decision about treatment. Id.

[296]*296To succeed in a lack of informed consent action, a plaintiff must prove

(1) nondisclosure of required information; (2) actual damage ... (3) resulting from the risks of which the patient was not informed; (4) cause in fact, which is to say that the plaintiff would have rejected the medical treatment if she had known the risk; and (5) that reasonable persons, if properly informed, would have rejected the proposed treatment.

Id. at 980. As Tipton did not prove there was “nondisclosure of required information,” summary judgment for the healthcare providers was not error.

In Rumple v. Bloomington Hosp., 422 N.E.2d 1309 (Ind.Ct.App.1981), trans. denied, Rumple claimed he was not informed that he would be billed for radiological services provided to his son. Rumple signed a consent form that read in pertinent part:

2.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
17 N.E.3d 292, 2014 Ind. App. LEXIS 438, 2014 WL 4384102, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/tipton-v-isaacs-indctapp-2014.