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Carter v. Haygood12/23/2003
PUBLISHED
AFFIRMED IN PART; REVERSED IN PART; AND RENDERED.
The defendant, Dr. Gary Haygood, DDS, and his insurer, The Medical Protective Company (collectively referred to as Dr. Haygood), appeal the judgment of the trial court finding in favor of the plaintiffs, Brenda and Charles Carter, in this dental malpractice case. For the following reasons, we affirm in part; reverse in part; and render.
FACTS
Brenda first saw Dr. Haygood on June 25, 1996, to obtain an estimate on a dental plate. During the examination, they discussed correcting her overbite. At her second appointment on July 11, 1996, it was agreed that Dr. Haygood would extract a number of Brenda's teeth and fit her with top and bottom partial dentures (partials). On August 30, 1996, Dr. Haygood extracted eleven teeth and then fitted Brenda with metal-based, permanent partials made from impressions taken of her teeth at her previous visit. She returned for adjustments to the partials several times. Based on her complaints, Dr. Haygood replaced the metal partials with semi-permanent acrylic partials on September 12, 1996.
Brenda returned for adjustments to these partial on September 30, and October 9, 1996. On January 6, 1997, Dr. Haygood recommended that she have the partials realigned at a cost of $150 per partial. The realigns were performed, but Brenda understood the price to be $150 for both partials. She never paid either amount. Later that day, Charles called and told Dr. Haygood that they had already paid over $2,000 for the work performed, and they did not feel like they should have to pay more for the realigns. Although Brenda later tried to schedule appointments with Dr. Haygood for adjustments to her partials, he refused to see her and recommended that she seek help elsewhere.
On December 18, 1997, Brenda filed a medical malpractice complaint against Dr. Haygood with the Division of Administration based on his deviation from the normal standard of care. On March 3, 1999, the Medical Review Panel rendered an opinion finding that "the evidence does not support the conclusion that Dr. Gary Stephen Haygood failed to meet the applicable standard of care as charged in the complaint."
On April 28, 1999, the Carters filed suit against Dr. Haygood, the State of Louisiana Patient Compensation Fund, and ABC Insurance Company seeking general, special, and loss of consortium damages based on the negligence of Dr. Haygood. They filed an amending and supplemental petition naming The Medical Protective Company, Dr. Haygood's malpractice insurer, as defendant. In his answer to this petition, Dr. Haygood requested a trial by jury. Upon the filing of a Dilatory Exception of Prematurity by the Patient's Compensation Fund, the Carters and the Fund filed a Joint Motion for Partial Dismissal dismissing their suit against the fund without prejudice. Thereafter on December 1, 1999, Dr. Haygood filed a Motion for Summary Judgment arguing that the pleadings and attachments demonstrated that there were no genuine issues of material fact. After a hearing on the motion, the trial court denied the motion for summary judgment.
On July 6, 2000, Dr. Haygood filed a Second Motion for Summary Judgment. Following a hearing on the motion, the trial court granted judgment in favor of Dr. Haygood and dismissed the Carters' claims with prejudice. A judgment was rendered on October 30, 2000. On November 7, 2000, the Carters filed a Motion for New Trial alleging that the trial court erroneously granted the summary judgment in favor of Dr. Haygood. On January 31, 2001, the trial court granted the motion in favor of the Carters. Dr. Haygood sought supervis
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