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Suttle v. Lake Forest Hospital6/30/2000
OPINION MODIFIED UPON DENIAL OF REHEARING
This appeal concerns a medical malpractice action brought on behalf of plaintiff, Diana Suttle, a minor, by and through the Central Trust Bank. Therein, plaintiff sought recovery from defendant, Lake Forest Hospital, for severe and permanent damages allegedly sustained at or around the time of her birth due to the negligence of hospital personnel. Following trial, a jury returned a general verdict in plaintiff's favor and awarded damages in the amount of $10,944,000. The award was subsequently reduced nunc pro tunc to $9,644,000 as a result of a settlement agreement entered into between plaintiff and prior defendants. Thereafter, the trial court entered judgment non obstante veredicto (n.o.v.) upon defendant's posttrial motion, finding that plaintiff failed to prove the existence of proximate cause as to any of her counts alleging negligence. The trial court further granted defendant's alternate motion for a new trial, finding that unfair prejudice would justify a new trial in the event this court reversed, set aside or vacated the aforementioned ruling. Plaintiff appeals, contending that the trial court erred: (1) in entering judgment n.o.v. in favor of the defendant hospital; and (2) in finding reversible prejudicial error that would, in the alternative, compel a new trial on liability and damages. Defendant, in its "conditional" cross-appeal, contends that if the trial court had not properly entered judgment n.o.v., or, in the alternative, ordered a new trial, a remittitur of the judgment would be compelled.
For the reasons that follow, we reverse the trial court and reinstate the judgment for plaintiff.
BACKGROUND
Cynthia Suttle was admitted as a patient to Lake Forest Hospital for the birth of her first baby on August 28, 1986. Ms. Suttle's obstetrician, Dr. Anthony Greis, examined Ms. Suttle at or around 9:17 a.m., observing bright red vaginal bleeding. He immediately ordered a cesarean section, as he knew that there was fetal distress and he suspected that Ms. Suttle was bleeding as a result of a placental abruption, which is the premature detachment of a normally situated placenta. At or around 9:35 a.m., Diana Suttle was born. After delivery, Dr. Greis removed the placenta and looked at it for an inherent blood clot and evidence of abruption. Finding neither, he sent the placenta to the hospital's pathology laboratory for analysis without giving a description of the placenta to any hospital personnel.
The pathology report, which was reduced to typewritten form and placed in Diana's medical record two days after her birth, showed that there was a velamentous insertion of the umbilical cord into the placenta; meaning, the umbilical cord had inserted itself into the membranes of the placenta rather than directly into the placenta itself. The report further indicated that there had been a fetal bleed, or rupture, of one of the blood vessels involved in the velamentously inserted umbilical cord. There was no indication of an abruption or any other abnormalities of the placenta; therefore, the pathologist indicated it was reasonable to conclude that the vaginal bleeding observed by Dr. Greis prior to Diana's birth was Diana's blood, as opposed to Ms. Suttle's.
Pediatrician Dr. Edwin Salter and nurse Kimberly Mills provided the initial treatment to Diana in the operating room after her birth. Neither was aware of the abnormality of the placenta. Diana's Apgar scores were normal, but since she was having continued difficulty breathing, at or around 9:45 a.m. nurse Mills took Diana to the hospital's intermediate, or level 2, perinatal care nursery for diagnosis and continued treatment. Dr. Salter
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