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[T] Adams v. Luciani12/2/2003
Submitted: October 27, 2003
ORDER
This 2nd day of December 2003, upon consideration of the briefs of the parties, it appears to the Court as follows:
1. Plaintiff-Appellee Connie Luciani's physician diagnosed her as an insulin-dependant diabetic during her pregnancy. When she came to full term at 40 weeks, Defendant-Appellant, Diane A. Adams, D.O. and Albert French, M.D. decided to induce labor. Milford Memorial Hospital admitted Luciani on March 1, 1998, for the administration of Cervidil, a device that ripens or thins the cervix.
Dr. Adams left the hospital after administering the Cervidil. Her order sheet provided that Luciani was to be monitored for one hour after the administration of the Cervidil, and then as needed. It also indicated that the Cervidil was to be discontinued if fetal distress or uterine hyperstimulation was detected. Nurse Patricia Brenneman disconnected the fetal heart monitor at 11:00 p.m. At Luciani's request, the monitor was reconnected from 3:20 a.m. to 5:40 a.m. Nurse Brenneman called Dr. Adams at 6:10 a.m. on March 2, to update her on Luciani's status. She notified Dr. Adams that she had discontinued the fetal heart monitor and Dr. Adams indicated her approval. Dr. Adams did not return to the hospital until 8:00 a.m. on March 2. At 8:08 a.m., there was no fetal heartbeat. Dr. Adams examined Luciani at 8:27 a.m. and then ordered a caesarian section. Zachary was born at 8:55 a.m. He suffered from perinatal asphyxia and encephalopathy, resulting in Cerebral Palsy.
2. Luciani filed a complaint against Drs. Adams and French, both employees of Bayside Health Association, Chartered. A second complaint was filed against Bay Health Medical Center, Inc. and Milford Memorial Hospital, Inc. The action against Dr. French was dismissed before trial.
3. During trial, Plaintiffs' expert, Dr. Krane, testified that Luciani was a high-risk patient because of her diabetes. He stated when using Cervidil, continuous fetal monitoring was needed and that a failure to do so violated the known applicable standard of care. He also testified that Dr. Adams should have been present at the hospital during administration of the Cervidil and that the C-section should have been performed earlier. Dr. Bean, on behalf of the Plaintiffs, testified that there was no brain injury at the time Luciani entered the hospital and that there would have been no injury if Zachary had been delivered before 5:20 a.m. Dr. Bean also concluded that the injury would not have been as severe if Zachary had been delivered before 8:55 a.m. and that Dr. Adams' inaction proximately caused Zachary's injuries.
4. During the course of the trial, Plaintiffs' counsel made statements about the testimony of defense experts such as "that's your opinion;" accused Dr. Adams of "gambling" with Zachary's life; and made specific references to religious convictions held by the Plaintiffs. Dr. Adams' counsel made timely objections to these comments. The trial judge sustained the objections. The trial judge did not give a curative instruction, but did appropriately instruct the jury at the close of the case regarding what evidence they could consider in sufficient detail in an attempt to negate any unfair prejudice caused by Plaintiffs' counsel's improper statements.
5. Before closing arguments, the hospital defendants settled with the Plaintiffs in a sealed agreement. The trial judge instructed the jury to make a determination about whether Dr. Adams, the hospitals, or both were negligent.
The jury found for the Plaintiffs and awarded $4 million, apportioned 50% each to Dr. Adams and to the hospitals. On December 18, 2001, Dr. Adams file
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