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Kenyon v. Handal3/10/2003
I.
In July 1997, Robyn Kenyon, then twenty years old and pregnant with her first child, placed herself in the care of Dr. Albert Handal, a physician specializing in obstetrics and gynecology who practices in Sumner County. As her pregnancy progressed, Ms. Kenyon visited Dr. Handal approximately once each month to enable him to monitor her condition and to provide her with prenatal care instructions.
Ms. Kenyon's due date was apparently in early to mid-January 1998. On January 5, 1998, she contacted Dr. Handal because she was experiencing contractions. Dr. Handal instructed her to go to the emergency room at Sumner Regional Medical Center where he determined that her condition was not favorable for an induced delivery. After determining that there were no indications of fetal compromise, Dr. Handal instructed Ms. Kenyon to come to his office on the following day. According to Ms. Kenyon, Dr. Handal also told her that he intended either to induce labor or perform a caesarean section if her baby was not born by January 13, 1998. Dr. Handal examined Ms. Kenyon again on January 6, 1998 and determined that the fetus was active and had normal heart tones. He also determined that her condition remained unfavorable for an induced delivery.
On January 9, 1998, Ms. Kenyon returned to the emergency room at Sumner Regional Medical Center complaining of contractions and diarrhea. She was admitted to the labor and delivery department at approximately 8:30 a.m. She was placed on a fetal monitor, and the monitor indicated fetal heart tones in the range of 175-180 beats per minute which indicated mild tachycardia. The hospital staff reported their findings by telephone to Dr. Handal at approximately 9:05 a.m. Dr. Handal was not scheduled to be at the hospital at that time, and so he ordered supportive therapy to address the fetus's high heart rate.
The hospital staff telephoned Dr. Handal again at 9:30 a.m. to inform him that the fetus's tachycardia had not abated. Dr. Handal then ordered a biophysical profile to determine the cause of the fetal tachycardia as well as the necessary treatment for the condition. An ultrasound technician arrived to perform the biophysical profile at approximately 10:00 a.m., and Ms. Kenyon was disconnected from the fetal monitor at approximately 10:03 a.m. to enable the test to be performed.
Dr. Handal arrived at the hospital at approximately 10:40 a.m., just after the biophysical profile had been completed. No fetal heart tones were detected after Ms. Kenyon was reconnected to the fetal monitor at approximately 10:48 a.m. Dr. Handal performed a pelvic ultrasound and confirmed the absence of fetal movement or heart tones. Dr. Handal performed a second pelvic ultrasound as Ms. Kenyon was being prepared for an emergency caesarian section. When he found no fetal heart movement, he cancelled the procedure and pronounced the fetus dead. Later in the afternoon, Dr. Handal induced delivery, and the fetus was stillborn at approximately 7:50 p.m. Upon delivery, it appeared that the fetus had died from an unpredictable kink in the umbilical cord under the fetus's chin. Ms. Kenyon was discharged from the hospital on January 10, 1998.
On January 11, 1999, Ms. Kenyon filed a medical malpractice action in the Circuit Court for Sumner County against Dr. Handal and the Sumner Regional Medical Center. On January 14, 2000, the Sumner Regional Medical Center filed a motion for summary judgment. Dr. Handal's motion for summary judgment followed four days later on January 18, 2000. The trial court heard both motions on February 25, 2000. Neither Ms. Kenyon nor Dr. Handal opposed the hospital's motion, and the trial court dismissed Ms. K
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