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Ex parte Cranman6/16/2000
In December 1995, Matthew was diagnosed with testicular cancer. Cancerous cells were found in his lungs and behind his kidneys. His left testicle was surgically removed, and he underwent chemotherapy, radiation, and other cancer treatments.
II. Procedural History
In September 1996, Matthew sued Drs. Maxwell, Hubbs, and Galaznik; the student health center; and others. He alleged that the physicians had negligently or wantonly breached the applicable standard of care in treating him, thereby breaching an implied contract to render medical treatment. In their answer, the physicians asserted the defense of immunity because, they claimed, they were engaged in a discretionary function within the scope of their authority as employees of the University of Alabama. They then moved for a summary judgment on the basis of immunity. Matthew then amended his complaint to add Dr. Bethany as a defendant and to dismiss the student health center.
Matthew Cranman died on November 6, 1997. On December 31, 1997, the trial court entered a summary judgment in favor of Drs. Maxwell, Hubbs, and Galaznik, concluding that they were protected from liability by discretionary-function immunity. On January 8, 1998, Paul Cranman, Matthew's father and executor, was substituted as a plaintiff, pursuant to Rule 25(a), Ala. R. Civ. P. On January 20, 1998, the trial court entered a summary judgment in favor of Dr. Bethany, based upon immunity. The trial court certified the summary judgments as final, pursuant to Rule 54(b), Ala. R. Civ. P. Paul Cranman appealed to this Court, which transferred the case to the Court of Civil Appeals, pursuant to ยง 12-2-7(6), Ala. Code 1975. In affirming the summary judgments, the Court of Civil Appeals stated, in pertinent part:
"As Matthew did in the trial court, the executor principally argues on appeal that precedents from other states rejecting immunity for state-employed physicians are persuasive and should be followed by Alabama courts. The trial court, while stating that `[Matthew] made a very compelling argument that [the state physicians] should not be entitled to discretionary function immunity because the character of the discretion which they exercised was medical and not governmental,' concluded that `under the current law of the State of Alabama a State-employed physician is entitled to immunity whether he's exercising "medical discretion" or "governmental discretion."' We agree with the trial court that no Alabama opinion has made any distinction, for purposes of tort liability, among the various forms of discretion that may be afforded to public servants in this state. Indeed, Kassen v. Hatley, 887 S.W.2d 4 (Tex. 1994), one of the authorities upon which the executor principally relies, describes Alabama as a state in which government medical personnel are immune from tort liability arising from the exercise of discretion in both governmental and medical decisions. 887 S.W.2d at 11 (citing Smith I [Smith v. Arnold, 564 So. 2d 873 (Ala. 1990]).
"....
"In this case, the state physicians were employed to provide health care to the student population at a state university. Their diagnoses of Matthew's condition and their recommendations as to treatment of that condition called for no less `professional judgment and discretion' than those made by the state-employed physicians in Barnes [v. Dale, 530 So. 2d 770 (Ala. 1988)], Smith I, and Harper [v. Gremmel, 703 So. 2d 346 (Ala. 1997)], or the state-employed trainer in Lennon [v. Petersen, 624 So. 2d 171 (Ala. 1993)], and it follows that they are entitled to the same discretionary function immunity that was afforded to the defendants in those cases. Thus, the trial court correctly ent
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Alabama Personal Injury Attorneys
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