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Dorsey v. Nold2/10/2000
REPORTED
In this appeal from the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County, the appellants are the parents and the estate of Candace Dorsey (hereinafter "the Dorseys"), who died on December 14, 1993. The appellees are Candace's pediatrician, Dr. Jeffrey Nold, and his employer, Anne Arundel Medical Center a/k/a Anne Arundel General Hospital d/b/a Pediatric Medical Center of Annapolis. Following Candace's death, the Dorseys filed suit against the appellees, contending that Candace died of asphyxiation caused by two cancerous thyroid tumors that were pressing against her airway, and that she would not have died if Dr. Nold recognized the severity of her condition and recommended immediate action when he examined Candace three days earlier. A jury ultimately determined that Dr. Nold did not breach the applicable standard of care in his treatment of Candace.
The Dorseys argue, in essence, that:
I. The trial court (i) erred in determining that the Dorseys committed a discovery violation by failing to inform the appellees until six days prior to trial that they intended to call the medical examiner who performed the autopsy on Candace's body, and (ii) abused its discretion in precluding the medical examiner's testimony in the Dorseys' case-in-chief as a sanction for the violation, II. The trial court erred by refusing to permit the Dorseys to call the medical examiner to the stand to present rebuttal evidence, and III. The trial court abused its discretion by refusing to permit the Dorseys to present evidence that, shortly before Candace's death, Dr. Nold failed the examination for board certification in pediatrics.
For the reasons that follow, we shall affirm the judgments of the circuit court.
FACTUAL BACKGROUND
Candace visited Dr. Nold at his office on December 11, 1993, complaining that she had been coughing for about a week and had been suffering from a sore throat, hoarseness, and congestion for two days. During his examination of Candace, Dr. Nold observed that she had a "large thyroid goiter [approximately] six centimeters" in size which, Candace told him, had been there for years. Dr. Nold gave Candace a "rapid strept test," which proved negative for streptococcus bacteria, then diagnosed her as having an upper respiratory infection, or cold. He directed her to have blood work done the following Monday, December 13, 1993, to ensure that her thyroid was functioning properly.
Candace went to school on Monday, then had the blood work done after school. She continued to cough, and that evening complained that she was still not feeling well. During the following night, Candace's family awoke to hear her gasping for breath. They found her on the floor of the hallway outside her bedroom, unable to speak. Candace's father called 911. When paramedics arrived they immediately gave her oxygen, but as they placed her in the ambulance she went into cardiac arrest. Resuscitation efforts of the paramedics were unsuccessful, however, as were resuscitation efforts made upon Candace's arrival at the hospital.
Dr. Theodore King, an assistant medical examiner in the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner of the State of Maryland, performed an autopsy on Candace's body. According to his autopsy report, Dr. King found that " wo discreet, encapsulated masses were present in front of the trachea just beneath the inferior lobes of the thyroid gland. The higher mass measured 3" by 2" by 3", while the lower mass, 1/2" subjacent, measured 3" by 2" 1-1/2" and extended down over the right atrium of the heart." Dr. King noted: "Neither of these masses involved the adjacent trachea or the right atrium of the heart, but the masses did narrow
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