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Dunham v. Stones River Hospital5/5/2000
The appellant filed a complaint against the appellees alleging medical malpractice. This claim was based on the appellant's assertion that her treating physician, appellee Dr. Maninder Singh, failed to diagnose and properly treat the appellant's myocardial infarction. The trial court granted the appellees' motions for summary judgment. We affirm.
Tenn. R. App. P. 3 Appeal as of Right; Judgment of the Circuit Court Affirmed and Remanded
Cantrell, P.J., M.S. delivered the opinion of the court, in which Cain, J. and Cottrell, J. joined.
OPINION
I.
On September 21, 1996, the appellant, Kathleen Dunham, arrived at the Southern Tennessee Medical Center emergency room complaining of chest pain. Dr. Maninder Singh worked in the emergency room as an independent contractor pursuant to a contract between the hospital and Team Health, Inc. Dr. Singh performed an electrocardiogram and concluded that Ms. Dunham's heart was not the cause of her chest pain. Her vital signs and the results of other lab tests were within normal limits. Dr. Singh then phoned Ms. Dunham's regular physician and learned that she had been discharged from Southern Tennessee Medical Center earlier that same day and that tests performed during her hospitalization did not suggest a cardiac event. Dr. Singh obtained the results of an electrocardiogram performed on Ms. Dunham the previous day and compared those results with the results of the test he had performed. After comparing the test results, Dr. Singh "advised Ms. Dunham that could find nothing which was suggestive of any cardiac event." At this point, Ms. Dunham's pain had resolved and she subsequently left the emergency room. Ms. Dunham later went to another hospital where she was diagnosed and treated for a myocardial infarction.
On October 2, 1996, Sherry Jackson, the head nurse of the emergency department at Southern Tennessee Medical Center, received a complaint regarding Ms. Dunham's emergency room care. After receiving this complaint, Ms. Jackson contacted Dr. Christopher Smith, the director of the emergency room, and asked him to review Ms. Dunham's record to determine the quality of care she had been provided. After reviewing the record, Dr. Smith determined that Ms. Dunham had sustained a myocardial infarct and that Dr. Singh had misread the electrocardiogram and misdiagnosed Ms. Dunham. After making these findings, Dr. Smith contacted the hospital's Quality Assurance department to alert them to the potential of a lawsuit regarding Ms. Dunham's emergency room care.
II.
Ms. Dunham subsequently filed this action against Stones River Hospital, Inc. d/b/a Southern Tennessee Medical Center, Team Health, Inc., and Dr. Singh. The complaint alleged that the appellees "failed to provide [Ms. Dunham] that level of care that is required by the standard in the community" and that such failure equated to malpractice and negligence. In response, the appellees filed motions for summary judgment. Dr. Singh filed an affidavit in support of his motion. He stated:
I am familiar with standards of acceptable professional practice for emergency room physicians now, and I am familiar with what those standards were in September 1996. . . . In my opinion, standards of acceptable professional practice for competent emergency room physicians in Franklin County, Tennessee and similar communities in September 1996 under circumstances presented by Ms. Dunham's case required the same actions, diagnostic tests, interpretations, and treatment as I rendered. In my opinion, my actions complied with standards of acceptable professional practice. By virtue of my education, experience, training, and qualifi
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