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Taylor v. Sauls9/6/2000
THIBODEAUX, J., CONCURS IN PART AND DISSENTS IN PART AND ASSIGNS WRITTEN REASONS AMY, J., DISSENTS AND ASSIGNS REASONS
AFFIRMED.
SAUNDERS, Judge.
Cecil Taylor, Kay Crain, Mary B. Van Orden, Bettie Folsom, Billie Jo Chamblee, John Rayburn, Melva Jean Boyett, and Martha Varnell (Plaintiffs) filed suit against Dr. J. Lane Sauls (Defendant) asserting that his substandard care of their wife and mother resulted in her death. A jury found in favor of Plaintiffs awarding damages to both the decedent's husband and her children. However, fault was also apportioned to the decedent and her husband. Defendant, Sauls, and the Louisiana Patients' Compensation Fund (LPCF), appeal that determination. Plaintiffs have answered the appeal seeking an increase in the fault apportioned to Defendant as well as an increase in the wrongful death damages awarded to the decedent's children.
Factual and Procedural Background
This matter stems from the July 22, 1994 death of Mildred Taylor. Plaintiffs allege that on that date, Mrs. Taylor fell on her back while exiting a hair salon. She was accompanied by her husband, Cecil Taylor, who, with others, assisted Mrs. Taylor to the couple's vehicle. Mr. Taylor drove his wife to the office of her physician, Dr. J. Lane Sauls, a general practitioner board certified in family practice.
Mrs. Taylor, who was seventy-eight years old at the time and suffered from osteoporosis, arrived at Dr. Sauls' office and was taken into the office in a wheelchair. Plaintiffs allege that, despite Dr. Sauls knowledge that Mrs. Taylor hit her back on the steps to the salon, she was only "momentarily evaluated" by him and that only an anterior chest x-ray was performed. This x-ray revealed no problems. Plaintiffs concede that Dr. Sauls advised Mrs. Taylor that she should go to the hospital for overnight observation, but that she refused. Dr. Sauls argues that he repeatedly advised Mrs. Taylor to go to the hospital, where additional x-rays could have been taken, but that she was adamant in her refusal and her desire to go home. However, Mr. Taylor testified that Dr. Sauls did not repeatedly advise Mrs. Taylor to go the hospital and he failed to convey the seriousness of Mrs. Taylor's condition. Mr. Taylor also testified that while at Dr. Sauls' office Mrs. Taylor was unable to stand up or walk. Upon leaving Dr. Sauls' office, Mr. and Mrs. Taylor made two stops before arriving home. Mrs. Taylor sat in the car during these stops.
Mr. and Mrs. Taylor returned home where, later that evening, Mrs. Taylor collapsed while being assisted from a chair. Although neighbors performed CPR until an ambulance arrived, Mrs. Taylor was transported to the hospital where she did not respond to treatment and was pronounced dead. At the request of the family, an autopsy was performed revealing a fracture around the area of the second thoracic vertebrae. The pathologist performing the autopsy observed that hemorrhage was present.
On November 20, 1995, Mr. Taylor, along with Melva Jean Boyett and Martha Varnell, daughters of Mrs. Taylor, filed a petition instituting this matter and alleging Mrs. Taylor's death was caused by the "malpractice and negligence of Dr. Lane Sauls in failing to appropriately diagnose and treat Mildred Taylor due to the various injuries sustained as a consequence of her fall in Beauregard Parish, Louisiana." They sought damages for Mrs. Taylor's wrongful death. Additionally, on January 2, 1996, Mrs. Taylor's other children, Mary B. Van Orden, Bettie Folsom, Billie Jo Chamblee, and John Rayburn, filed a separate suit against Dr. Sauls alleging malpractice and also seeking damages related to their mother's death. The
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