Haselden v. Davis6/19/2000
Appeal From Sumter County Alexander S. Macaulay, Circuit Court Judge
Heard may 9, 2000
AFFIRMED
In these wrongful death and survival actions, a Sumter County jury awarded a total of $1,082,103.71 to Carolyn H. Hill's statutory beneficiaries and $1,000,000.00 to her estate. S. Perry Davis, M.D., the sole remaining defendant at trial, appeals. We affirm.
FACTS
Hill had been a patient of Davis's family practice since August 5, 1974. On October 25, 1991, Hill consulted Davis complaining of soreness in her left breast. After examining Hill, Davis referred her to Tuomey Regional Medical Center in Sumter for a bilateral mammogram, which was done November 5, 1991.
The entry on Hill's chart for October 25, 1991, contained the handwritten notation "two weeks." It is unclear whether or not that notation meant Hill was given a follow-up appointment for that time; however, it is undisputed Hill did not see Davis in the weeks following the mammogram and Davis's office made no attempt to contact her about this matter.
Martin Rosefield, M.D., the radiologist who read Hill's mammogram, found it revealed a "cluster of microcalcifications in the right breast . . . ." In his report, Rosefield noted, " hese calcifications must be considered suspicious for possible neoplastic change." Rosefield also recommended an excisional biopsy for a definitive diagnosis.
Davis received the suspicious mammogram report, but did not read it until 1993. He neither advised Hill of the results of the test nor sent her for an excisional biopsy in 1991 as recommended.
On June 22, 1993, Hill consulted Davis about a lump in her right breast. At this visit, Davis's nurse noticed the 1991 mammogram, which had been incorrectly placed at the back of Hill's chart. Davis read the 1991 mammogram during this visit. He also referred Hill to a surgeon, who ordered another mammogram. This 1993 mammogram revealed a large six-centimeter carcinoma in the right breast, and the report stated the cancer had metastasized to Hill's lymph nodes.
Hill underwent a mastectomy, which was followed by a biopsy of a cervical lymph node, chemotherapy, and radiation treatments. Hill was in pain after the mastectomy and suffered from fatigue as a result of the chemotherapy. As the disease progressed, Hill became bedridden, and her fourteen-year old daughter Emily became primarily responsible for providing her daily care and for maintaining their household. Eventually, both Hill and Emily went to live with Hill's son, Jody Haselden, and his wife in their small apartment in Newport News, Virginia. There, the Haseldens' dining room became Hill's hospital room. Hill died on August 22, 1994, at age 47. Her death certificate indicated the cause of death was breast carcinoma.
Haselden, as the personal representative of Hill's estate, filed survival and wrongful death actions on November 1, 1994, against Davis, Rosefield, and Tuomey Regional Medical Center. Before trial, Rosefield and Tuomey Regional Medical Center were dismissed as defendants. The actions were consolidated and proceeded to trial against Davis.
The trial commenced on March 24, 1997, and ended in jury awards of $1,082,103.71 in the wrongful death action and $1,000,000.00 in the survival action. In arriving at the verdicts, however, the jury determined that Davis and Hill had each been negligent in proximately causing Hill's injuries. Because the jury attributed ten per cent of the combined negligence to Hill and ninety per cent to Davis, the trial court combined the verdicts and reduced the aggregate amount to $1,873,893.30, which was then enrolled as a judgment ag
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