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Kendig v. Martin3/27/2003
. Plaintiff-appellant, James L. Kendig, appeals from a judgment of the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas denying plaintiff's post-trial motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict or, in the alternative, for new trial. Because the trial court committed no reversible error, we affirm.
. On June 9, 1997, plaintiff's left arm was crushed in a work-related injury when his arm was pinned between two forklifts. Emergency squad personnel treated plaintiff at the scene of the injury. A co-worker then brought plaintiff to Mount Carmel East Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, for further treatment. At the hospital, Mark A. Smith, M.D., an emergency room physician, examined plaintiff. Although Dr. Smith found swelling and tenderness of plaintiff's proximal forearm, Dr. Smith determined neurovascular and tendon functions of plaintiff's hand were intact. Dr. Smith evaluated sensation, motor function and capillary refill, which Dr. Smith described as "good," and ordered an x-ray of plaintiff's injured arm, which revealed plaintiff did not have a fracture. Dr. Smith treated plaintiff's pain with medication.
. By telephone, Dr. Smith informally consulted with an orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Bombach, to review his clinical findings, but Dr. Smith did not request a formal orthopedic consultation. Following his telephone discussion with Dr. Bombach, Dr. Smith reviewed aftercare instructions with plaintiff and arranged to have plaintiff's arm placed in a splint. Dr. Smith's aftercare instructions included directions to elevate plaintiff's injured arm, apply ice, and loosen and loosely re-wrap the bandage if the bandage felt too tight. The aftercare instructions also directed plaintiff to return to the emergency room or contact Dr. Bombach if plaintiff experienced paleness or purpleness to the hand, numbness, tingling in the hand, difficulty in wiggling or moving his fingers or increased pain. Plaintiff was instructed to arrange a follow-up visit with Dr. Bombach early within the following week. Dr. Smith had no direct contact with plaintiff following plaintiff's discharge from the emergency room.
. After plaintiff's discharge, plaintiff's mother assisted him. In addition to having plaintiff's medication prescription filled, and arranging a follow-up appointment with Dr. Bombach for June 16, 1997, plaintiff's mother also contacted the emergency department at Mount Carmel East Hospital because plaintiff was experiencing increased pain. According to plaintiff's mother, during the telephone call to the emergency department, the female staff member with whom she spoke did not inquire whether plaintiff's hand was pale, whether plaintiff was experiencing tingling or numbness in his hand, whether plaintiff had difficulty wiggling his fingers, or whether plaintiff had experienced increased pain. After taking a telephone number where plaintiff's mother could be reached, the staff member, who was later identified as a nurse, called plaintiff's mother and instructed her to pick up a new pain medication prescription at the emergency department. Plaintiff's mother complied with the instruction and took the prescription to a pharmacy to have it filled.
. At trial, the nurse with whom plaintiff's mother spoke testified she did not have any specific recollection concerning the telephone conversations with plaintiff's mother and did not recall giving plaintiff's mother the new prescription. However, a handwritten notation in plaintiff's medical chart dated June 9, 1997, signed by the nurse, indicated a new prescription "was written by Dr. M. Smith at 1745 to be picked by family member." At trial, the nurse also testified about her usual procedure for handling telephone calls to the emergency room,
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