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Stroder v. Horowitz12/20/2000
As amended January 5, 2001. There is no change in the judgment.
GASKINS, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part.
This appeal arises from the granting of a motion for summary judgment in favor of Defendants, Dr. Marc Horowitz, Dr. Thomas C. Wooldridge and Morehouse General Hospital, dismissing the medical malpractice suit filed against them by Plaintiff, Bethel Stroder. For the reasons stated herein, we reverse and remand.
FACTS
At approximately 5:30 p.m., on October 14, 1995, Ms. Stroder was taken via ambulance from her home in Oak Grove, Louisiana, to Morehouse General Hospital ("Morehouse") for severe abdominal pains. The testimony of Ms. Stroder's family members indicates that she asked to be taken to E. A. Conway Hospital ("Conway"), the charity hospital in Monroe, Louisiana. She apparently, however, lost consciousness in the ambulance; and the driver made the unilateral decision to stop at Morehouse, which was closer.
Ms. Stroder arrived at the emergency room of Morehouse and was admitted by 6:08 p.m. She was examined by Dr. Horowitz who was the emergency room physician working that evening. The examination revealed a hard, ten centimeter round mass in the left lower quadrant of Ms. Stroder's abdomen and an absence of bowel sounds. Dr. Horowitz suspected Ms. Stroder was suffering from a strangulated hernia and ordered further testing. Ms. Stroder's hematology and blood gas test results were finished by 6:40 p.m. The tests revealed an increased white blood cell count, indicative of infection; an elevated glucose level; and an elevated blood pH. A portable chest x-ray was also taken with Ms. Stroder in the supine position, which revealed no sign of free air under the diaphragm. The test results confirmed Dr. Horowitz's suspicion of a strangulated hernia, which required immediate surgery.
Dr. Wooldridge was the on-call surgeon at Morehouse that evening. Although Dr. Horowitz does not recall the exact moment Dr. Wooldridge was paged for a surgical consultation concerning Ms. Stroder, he and the emergency room nurses who were on staff that evening testified that Dr. Wooldridge came to the emergency room, read Ms. Stroder's chart, refused to examine her and recommended that an NG tube be inserted and that she be transferred to Conway. Dr. Wooldridge testified that he has no independent recollection of that event, and his alleged consultation is not documented in Ms. Stroder's chart.
Dr. Horowitz then contacted Dr. Daniel Martinez, a general surgeon at Conway, to arrange for the transfer of Ms. Stroder. Based on her vital signs as related to him by Dr. Horowitz by telephone, Dr. Martinez testified that he considered Ms. Stroder's condition to be stable at the time of transfer; and, had she not been stable, he would have refused the transfer. Dr. Martinez further testified that, in his position, he accepts the transfer of most all patients unless they are "crashing or coding," meaning their blood pressure has dropped considerably or they are dying.
Ms. Stroder was transferred from Morehouse at approximately 8:30 p.m. and arrived at Conway at approximately 9:00 p.m. Following her arrival at Conway, Dr. Martinez ordered another chest x-ray of Ms. Stroder to check for free air in the abdominal cavity which would indicate that the bowel had deteriorated to the point of perforation. The supine x-ray showed no free air. Dr. Martinez then ordered that a chest x-ray be taken with Ms. Stroder in an upright position. This x-ray indicated that there was free air in Ms. Stroder's abdominal cavity. Dr. Martinez confirmed Dr. Horowitz's diagnosis of a strangulated or incarcerated hernia which had, at that point, cau
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