 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Breeden v. Anesthesia West2/28/2003
I. INTRODUCTION
Michael R. Breeden and Carilyn Breeden sued appellees Anesthesia West, P.C., and its employees Dr. Wesley K. Hubka, an anesthesiologist, and Janet Lemonds, a nurse anesthetist, for medical malpractice. (Appellees are referred to collectively herein as "Anesthesia West.") The Breedens alleged that Michael Breeden (hereinafter Breeden) suffered brain damage as a result of Dr. Hubka's and Lemonds' negligence in administering general anesthesia during Breeden's gallbladder removal surgery. The Breedens appeal a jury verdict in favor of Anesthesia West.
II. FACTUAL BACKGROUND
Breeden was admitted to Methodist Hospital in Omaha, Nebraska, on August 14, 1994, to have his gallbladder surgically removed. During the evening of August 15, Dr. Doug Rennels, an anesthesiologist, conducted a preanesthetic evaluation of Breeden. Such examination disclosed, inter alia, no evidence of "peripheral neurological deficits."
During the morning of August 16, Nurse Joyce Clark, an employee of Methodist Hospital, again evaluated Breeden's condition. As a result of this evaluation, Clark made an entry in Breeden's electronic file on Methodist Hospital's computer system that Breeden was experiencing "TINGLING OF RT LEG, RT SIDE OF BODY TO MID CHEST." The entry reflected that Clark observed the symptom at 9:50 a.m.
At approximately 10:35 a.m., Breeden was taken to the preoperation holding area in order to receive general anesthesia. There, Breeden's condition was again evaluated, this time by Dr. Hubka, after which Dr. Hubka and Lemonds administered general anesthesia to Breeden. Although, according to Dr. Hubka, there were "at least three" computers in the preoperation holding area on which the nursing notes in Breeden's electronic file could have been accessed, neither Dr. Hubka nor Lemonds accessed Breeden's electronic file to read Clark's entry prior to administering anesthesia. Breeden's anesthesia was monitored throughout the surgery by Dr. Hubka and Lemonds.
The Breedens filed a medical malpractice action against Anesthesia West, alleging that Dr. Hubka and Lemonds were negligent in administering general anesthesia and that as a result, Breeden suffered brain damage. In their operative petition, the Breedens alleged, inter alia, that Dr. Hubka and Lemonds breached their duty to " nsure that [Breeden's] surgery was postponed" based on the information in Clark's note.
During two pretrial depositions, Clark gave conflicting testimony regarding the time she actually entered the note regarding Breeden's "tingling" symptom into the Methodist Hospital computer system. Clark testified in her first deposition that she entered the note at 9:50 a.m. on August 16. However, in her second deposition, Clark testified she may have entered the note later in the day, after Breeden's surgery.
Prior to trial, the district court ruled, over Anesthesia West's objection, that pursuant to Momsen v. Nebraska Methodist Hospital, 210 Neb. 45, 313 N.W.2d 208 (1981), Clark's "earlier deposition which indicates that the entry was made at a time on or before the day of surgery or the specific words of her own testimony will be the testimony at trial as a matter of law." Such determination was ultimately incorporated into jury instruction No. 5, which provided that " he Court has determined as a matter of law that the following fact exists and you must accept it as true: Nurse Joyce Clark entered her nursing note on the computer at 9:50 a.m. on August 16, 1994."
At trial, the Breedens' expert, Dr. Richard Fields, opined that Clark's note indicating Breeden complained of "tingling" in his right side and right leg might have reflect
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Nebraska Personal Injury Attorneys
Personal Injury Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|