Walters v. Hobbs

30 P.3d 1214, 176 Or. App. 194, 2001 Ore. App. LEXIS 1253
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedAugust 22, 2001
Docket9500602CV; A102298
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 30 P.3d 1214 (Walters v. Hobbs) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Oregon primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Walters v. Hobbs, 30 P.3d 1214, 176 Or. App. 194, 2001 Ore. App. LEXIS 1253 (Or. Ct. App. 2001).

Opinion

HASELTON, P. J.

Defendant Hobbs1 appeals from money judgments entered on jury verdicts in favor of plaintiffs Sherri Walters (Sherri) and her daughter Cheyenne Walters (Cheyenne) by and through her guardian ad litem Sherri Walters in this medical malpractice action. Plaintiffs alleged that Hobbs was negligent in failing to provide appropriate prenatal care and medical treatment to Sherri and Cheyenne during the period preceding and immediately after Cheyenne’s birth, resulting in injuries to both Sherri and Cheyenne. On appeal, Hobbs raises a battery of challenges to both verdicts. We reject Hobbs’s assignments of error pertaining to Cheyenne’s claims and, thus, affirm the verdict in favor of Cheyenne. However, we agree with Hobbs that the trial court erred in permitting Sherri to amend the complaint after the statute of limitations had expired to add new allegations which, ultimately, provided the basis of the jury’s award of damages to Sherri. Specifically, we conclude that those allegations did not “relate back” to the prior, timely filed complaint. Consequently, the judgment for Sherri must be reversed.

Cheyenne was born on February 15, 1993. On February 10, 1995, plaintiffs filed their initial complaint. That complaint, styled as a “complaint for personal injury,” listed as plaintiffs Kenny Walters, Sherri Walters, and Cheyenne L. Walters by and through her guardian ad litem Sherri Walters. It alleged, in pertinent part, that between April 23, 1992, and February 16, 1993, a physician-patient relationship existed between plaintiffs and Hobbs, and that Hobbs provided prenatal and obstetrical care to Sherri throughout her pregnancy. The complaint further alleged that, at her birth some two weeks after her due date, Cheyenne weighed three pounds 12 ounces. Plaintiffs alleged that they and Hobbs initially planned for a vaginal delivery but, after Sherri was admitted to the hospital on February 15, 1993, [198]*198stress tests indicated fetal distress and, after a failed attempt to induce labor, a caesarian section delivery was performed.

Additionally, the complaint alleged that: (1) Cheyenne was stained with meconium at birth,2 was placed on a ventilator due to respiratory distress, and was transferred to another hospital shortly after birth due to her condition; (2) Cheyenne required lengthy hospitalization, followed by home care that included both medication and ventilation oxygen; and (3) Cheyenne suffered permanent damage to her lungs, as well as significant and irremediable stunting of her growth and development.

The original complaint’s specifications of negligence are central to our analysis of the “relation back” issue, so we reproduce them verbatim:

“That defendant John M. Hobbs herein was negligent in the following particulars, causing the hereinafter following injuries to the plaintiffs:
“A. In failing to properly monitor the growth of minor Cheyenne L. Walters during the prenatal phase while providing obstetrical care and treatment to plaintiff Sherri Walters;
“B. In failing to properly foresee and prepare for a small-for-gestational-age baby in light of the fact that defendant Hobbs was fully aware of medications plaintiff Sherri Walters was taking which increased the potentiality for a small fetus;
“C. In failing to take serial ultrasound during the prenatal period in light of the fact that defendant Hobbs was fully aware that plaintiff Sherri Walters was taking medications which increased the potentiality of a small-for-gestational-age fetus;
“D. In failing to properly prepare for and anticipate a small-for-gestational-age fetus, in light of factors that indicated that this was a high-risk pregnancy, including that plaintiff Sherri Walters was taking [199]*199medication for a heart condition, which medication raised the potentiality of intrauterine growth retardation;
“E. In failing to arrange for the delivery of plaintiff Cheyenne L. Walters at a facility properly equipped and staffed with personnel competent to handle a high-risk pregnancy when it ought to have been anticipated that the fetus would be small for gestational age;
“F. In failing to have a pediatrician present at the time of delivery or immediately available at the time of delivery of Cheyenne L. Walters, in light of the fact that Sherri Walters’ pregnancy was a high-risk pregnancy and there was a known risk that plaintiff Cheyenne L. Walters would be small for her gestational age;
“G. In failing to undertake ultrasound at times critical for ascertaining the approximate size of fetus Cheyenne L. Walters prior to her birth on February 15, 1993, which would have indicated that she was a small-for-gestational-age fetus;
“H. In allowing plaintiff Sherri Walters to go two weeks after her estimated due date for delivery of Cheyenne L. Walters, which increased the likelihood of meconium release and subsequent aspiration of meconium into the lungs before her birth, resulting in damage to lung tissue inhibiting Cheyenne’s ability to inhale oxygen and exhale waste products and requiring forced oxygen resulting in permanent lung damage after birth;
“I. In failing to properly follow Sherri Walters during the course of her prenatal period in light of the fact that her pregnancy with plaintiff Cheyenne L. Walters was a high-risk pregnancy and that it was known to defendant Hobbs that Sherri Walters was taking medication which increased the potentiality of a small-for-gestational-age fetus, sometimes referred to as intrauterine growth retardation, which would require early delivery, as soon as growth and lung maturity would allow;
[200]*200“J. In failing to advise Sherri Walters that a high-risk pregnancy such as hers should be treated and followed by a perinatalogist and delivery should occur in a tertiary care facility where proper equipment and appropriate specialists are readily available.”

In their original complaint, plaintiffs sought damages as follows:

“That as a result of the negligence of the defendants herein, plaintiff Cheyenne L. Walters has suffered permanent lung damage, stunting her growth, and damage to her nervous system, all of which has caused plaintiff in the past and will in the future cause plaintiff Cheyenne L. Walters to experience pain and suffering, limitation of physical pursuits and impaired earning capacity all to plaintiff Cheyenne L. Walters’ general damages in the sum of $4,000,000.00.
“That in light of the foregoing, plaintiffs Kenny Walters and Sherri Walters have incurred, and will incur, medical bills on behalf of minor Cheyenne Walters in the approximate amount of $500,000.00.
“That in light of the foregoing, plaintiffs Kenny Walters and Sherri Walters will in the future incur damages due to the loss of earnings and services from minor Cheyenne L. Walters.
“That as a direct and proximate result of the defendants’ negligence herein, plaintiff Sherri Walters has suffered emotional distress from witnessing the birth of plaintiff Cheyenne L.

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Related

Concienne v. Asante
359 P.3d 407 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2015)
Doughton v. Morrow
298 P.3d 578 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2013)
Walters v. Hobbs
33 P.3d 1067 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2001)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
30 P.3d 1214, 176 Or. App. 194, 2001 Ore. App. LEXIS 1253, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/walters-v-hobbs-orctapp-2001.