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Hoffman v. East Jefferson General Hospital12/13/2000
AMENDED AND AS AMENDED, AFFIRMED
This is a medical malpractice action in which judgment was rendered in favor of the plaintiff after a trial on the merits. The judgment also awarded plaintiff a total of $395,000 in damages. Defendant, East Jefferson Hospital, appeals.
The petition for damages which initiated this action alleges that plaintiff, Pamela Hoffman, was admitted to East Jefferson Hospital (East Jefferson) on the morning of July 7, 1995 for two surgical procedures. She was scheduled to undergo a hysteroscopy with endometrial ablation under the care of Dr. Thomas Kennedy and, while under the anesthesia, a laparoscopic cholecystostomy to be performed by Dr. Charles Chappuis. The first procedure was performed vaginally and the second was abdominal. After both procedures were performed, Mrs. Hoffman was brought to the recovery room. Upon admittance into that unit, nurses noticed blisters on the buttocks. She was later released with instructions to put medicinal cream on the blistered area and use a compress of water and vinegar solution.
After discharge from the hospital, Mrs. Hoffman returned to Dr. Kennedy's office and was advised to continue the same treatment to care for the burns. However, the burns did not heal and Mrs. Hoffman was admitted to West Jefferson Hospital where she was treated for third degree burns. Mrs. Hoffman had to undergo surgical debridement and, subsequently, skin grafts. She was hospitalized for about two weeks following those procedures.
Mrs. Hoffman filed this action for malpractice after a medical review panel found no deviation from standard procedure by either the doctors or the hospital staff. The petition names Dr. Kennedy and East Jefferson as defendants. After a four day bench trial on the merits, the court took the matter under advisement. Subsequently, the court rendered a judgment, supported by extensive written reasons, which found both defendants liable to plaintiff. The judgment also awarded damages as follows:
past, present and future physical pain & suffering $330,000
past, present and future medical expenses $50,000
past, present and future mental anguish $15,000
Total $395,000
Although both defendants appealed, only East Jefferson has filed a brief with this court.
At trial the court heard testimony from Tina Hendrick, a nurse at East Jefferson, who testified that she knew both the plaintiff and Dr. Kennedy. Dr. Kennedy had delivered her baby, and Ms. Hendrick had assisted the doctor in surgery in the course of her employment with East Jefferson. Ms. Hendrick stated that she has known Mrs. Hoffman since 1987.
Ms. Hendrick was in the operating room during Mrs. Hoffman's surgery. Two other nurses, Kelly Jenkins and Natalie Walker, were also part of the surgical team. Ms. Hendrick explained that, during the procedure which Dr. Kennedy performed, the patient was put in stirrups, prepped and draped and a weighted speculum was inserted before surgery. Ms. Hendrick described the weighted speculum as having a large metal ball on the bottom half which weighs down the vagina after insertion.
After the surgery Ms. Hendrick noticed that the patient's skin was peeling at the crack of her buttocks. This condition did not exist prior to the surgery when the patient was prepped. Ms. Hendrick called Dr. Kennedy back into the room but he stated he did not know what caused the peeling. There was an electrical device used on the patient's uterus during the surgery, but it did not come into contact with the buttocks.
Ms. Hendrick explained that the normal procedure is to sterilize the surgical instrume
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