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Curtis v. Columbia Doctors' Hospaital of Opelousas12/17/2003
natively that the trial court's finding that she failed to prove her case by a preponderance of the evidence is legal or manifest error. The plaintiff asks this court to reverse the trial court's determination and award damages.
La.R.S. 9:2794(A) sets forth the burden of proof for medical malpractice claims, requiring that a plaintiff establish the applicable standard of care, breach of the standard, and a causal link between the breach and the injuries suffered. With regard to the burden of proof applicable to a patient's stay in a hospital, the Louisiana Supreme Court has observed that the occurrence of an injury or accident, alone, does not raise a presumption of negligence on the part of the hospital. See Galloway v. Baton Rouge Gen. Hosp., 602 So.2d 1003 (La.1992). With regard to the hospital's duty, the supreme court further stated:
However, " t is the hospital's duty to protect a patient from dangers that may result from the patient's physical and mental incapacities as well as from external circumstances peculiarly within the hospital's control". Hunt v. Bogalusa Community Medical Center 303 So.2d 745, 747 (La.1974). Moreover, determining whether the hospital has "breached the duty of care it owes to a particular patient depends upon the circumstances and facts of that case". Id.
Id. at 1008.
The trial court rendered extensive written reasons, referencing the plaintiff's testimony that she fell from the bed while attempting to turn over in bed. However, the trial court further referenced the notes of the nursing staff and involved physicians who indicated that the plaintiff fell while attempting to go to the bathroom unassisted. The trial court observed that the nurse on duty the morning of the fall testified that he found the plaintiff near the door, a distance explained to be approximately six or seven feet from the bed. The trial court also noted that "the last two (2) nurses' notes (at 2200 and 2300 on 7/9/97) before the fall indicated the bed side rails as being up (SR)." Furthermore, the trial court discounted the testimony of the plaintiff's expert witness, an emergency room physician critical of the defendant hospital's implementation of its Fall Alert Program. The trial court found the testimony of little value due to the physician's practice in the field of emergency medicine and lack of experience "in the field of rehabilitation or nursing programs (such as a Fall Alert Program)." The trial court explained that it was "doubtful that [the expert witness] could or would meet the Daubert/Foret test relative to rehabilitative nursing care." In its conclusion, the trial court stated:
Unquestionably, Ms. Curtis suffered a serious fall and was seriously injured as a result thereby. This court is quite sympathetic toward her in that regard, but the law is the law, and it applies equally to all. The law requires that the plaintiff must prove a breach of the applicable standard of care by a preponderance of the evidence. This, the plaintiff has not done. Plaintiff has proven her fall with serious injury. Plaintiff has not proven a breach of the applicable standard of care and that said substandard care caused an injury to her which would not have otherwise occurred. The evidence preponderates toward plaintiff falling while improvidently attempting to go to the bathroom without seeking assistance. The evidence does not preponderate toward plaintiff "rolling out of bed" onto the floor. For six (6) days prior to her fall, plaintiff had been in the rehabilitative unit successfully voiding with the assistance of hospital personnel. She also had available to her a "call button" to summon assistance, and her room was right across from the nurses' station
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