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Curtis v. Columbia Doctors' Hospaital of Opelousas12/17/2003
wherein she could have actually called out for assistance if she was not properly being attended to or cared for. Despite her mental deficiency, for six (6) days prior to her fall, she appeared to adequately progress in her rehabilitation without incident. Unfortunately, and regrettably, she fell and seriously damaged her knee replacement requiring corrective surgery. Simply stated, plaintiff has not proved her case.
Although the plaintiff asserts that the trial court's conclusion was legal error given the state of the evidence in the record, the reasons indicate that the trial court ultimately found that the "breach" element of the burden of proof was not established. This question of whether a health care provider's conduct fell below the applicable standard of care is a factual determination and is thus subject to the manifest error standard of review. See Martin v. East Jefferson Gen. Hosp., 582 So.2d 1272 (La.1991). We find no such error.
In short, the record supports the trial court's findings. Although the plaintiff testified that she rolled from the bed, the trial court did not accept this testimony. This type of credibility determination is appropriately left to the trier of fact and will not be disturbed on appeal absent manifest error. See Elevating Boats, Inc. v. St. Bernard Parish, 00-3518 (La. 9/5/01), 795 So.2d 1153. Instead of the plaintiff's version of events, the trial court relied on other evidence indicating that the bed rails were in place and that she attempted to go to the bathroom. The nurse's notes include a statement that Ms. Curtis reported that she fell while attempting to go to the bathroom unassisted. The trial court heard from the nurse on duty that morning, who explained that Ms. Curtis was found by the door. The nurse further testified that it was his practice to ensure that the bed rails are up when he checks on a patient during his hourly rounds. The nurse's notes from earlier in the evening contain an inscription referenced by the trial court that the rails were in their upright position. Finally, the medical personnel who testified at trial indicated that bed rails are used in a rehabilitation facility to both prevent situations in which patients fall from the bed as well as to serve as a reminder to the patient to not move from the bed without assistance. However, the witnesses explained that patients can and do, in fact, get up from the bed with the side rails in place.
Our review of the record reveals support for the trial court's determination that the plaintiff failed to satisfy the necessary burden of proof with regard to a breach of the standard of care. Accordingly, we conclude that this assignment lacks merit. Due to our resolution of this assignment in favor of the appellee, we do not reach the plaintiff's request for the award of damages.
DECREE
For the foregoing reasons, the decision of the trial court is affirmed. All costs of this appeal are assigned to the plaintiff, Allean Curtis.
AFFIRMED.
SAUNDERS, J., dissenting.
I must respectfully dissent, in part, from the majority opinion, specifically as to the trial court's decision to discount the testimony of the plaintiff's expert witness, Dr. Samuel Richardson, a physician specializing in Emergency Room medicine. The trial court explained that it was "doubtful that [the expert] could or would meet the Daubert/Foret test relative to rehabilitative nursing care." While the trial court questioned whether Dr. Richardson would meet the Daubert standard for admissibility of expert opinion evidence, the court did not find his testimony inadmissible, it merely chose to discount his testimony due to this perceived failure
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