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Fluck v. Coffman12/12/2003
The plaintiffs, Margaret Fluck and Jack Fluck, appeal a judgment in favor of the defendant, Leslie Coffman, M.D., dismissing their medical malpractice claim. The trial court found that the plaintiffs failed to prove that defendant breached the standard of care. For the following reasons, we affirm.
FACTS
On November 8, 1994, Margaret Fluck underwent bladder suspension surgery by Dr. Leslie Coffman, an obstetrician/gynecologist. During the surgical procedure, Dr. Coffman inadvertently passed a suture through the patient's catheter. Two days later, Bessie Herring, a registered nurse at Glenwood Regional Medical Center, was unable to remove the catheter and contacted Dr. Coffman, who went to see Fluck in the hospital.
At trial, the parties gave contrasting versions of the incident which had transpired. Dr. Coffman and Nurse Herring testified that he grasped the end of the catheter between his thumb and index finger and gently pulled once to try to remove the catheter. They both stated that the effort did not cause Fluck any pain and that they did not recall hearing the patient scream out in distress.
In contrast, Fluck testified that Dr. Coffman made multiple aggressive attempts to remove the sutured catheter and that his efforts caused her excruciating pain. Fluck testified that she screamed out in pain a number of times and that Coffman refused to discontinue his efforts even after she begged him to stop. Fluck's two sisters and her husband, Jack, each testified that they were standing in the hall outside the door of the examining room and heard Fluck scream in pain a number of times.
When Dr. Coffman concluded that the catheter must have been sutured into place, he consulted with Dr. Edwin Edgerton, a urologist, who removed the catheter the next day by performing a cystoscopy procedure. The nursing notes described bruises on Fluck's lower abdomen on the day following Dr. Coffman's attempts to remove the catheter.
Subsequently, the plaintiffs, Margaret and Jack Fluck, filed a complaint against Dr. Coffman with the Patient's Compensation Fund. A medical review panel issued a unanimous opinion finding that Dr. Coffman had not breached the applicable standard of care in his treatment of Fluck. The plaintiffs then filed a petition for damages against the defendant, Dr. Coffman, alleging that his negligence caused Fluck pain and suffering, mental anguish, sexual dysfunction and required further surgical intervention.
Initially, the district court granted defendant's motion for summary judgment, which was affirmed by this court. Fluck v. Coffman, 32,100 (La. App. 2d Cir. 9/22/99), 742 So.2d 79. The supreme court reversed and remanded after finding that a genuine issue of material fact existed. Fluck v. Coffman, 99-3054 (La. 1/7/00), 752 So.2d 171. The parties entered a consent judgment limiting plaintiffs' claim to damages for the mistaken suturing of the catheter. After a bench trial, the court issued written reasons finding that the plaintiffs failed to establish that Dr. Coffman had breached the standard of care. The trial court rendered judgment dismissing the plaintiffs' claims. Plaintiffs appeal the judgment.
DISCUSSION
In two assignments of error, the plaintiffs contend the trial court erred in finding that they did not meet their burden of proving that the defendant was negligent. Plaintiffs argue that the testimony supported a finding that defendant used excessive force in attempting to remove the catheter, thereby causing unnecessary pain to Margaret Fluck.
In a malpractice action based on the negligence of a physician licensed in Louisiana, where the defendant practices in a
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