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Sipe v. Porter10/30/2003
Background
Plaintiff sued Dr. Porter and Jeffrey S. Hecht, M.D. ("Dr. Hecht") for the wrongful death of his wife, Gladys Louise Sipe, alleging that Drs. Porter's and Hecht's medical care of Ms. Sipe deviated from the acceptable standard of care and caused "extensive suffering and eventual death" of Ms. Sipe. Dr. Porter's treatment of Ms. Sipe involved, in part, the placement of a percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy ("PEG") tube. Both Dr. Porter and Dr. Hecht filed motions for summary judgment. Dr. Hecht later withdrew his motion for summary judgment to allow Plaintiff to take a voluntary non-suit as to him and an order was entered dismissing Dr. Hecht from the case.
Plaintiff responded to Dr. Porter's motion for summary judgment and filed the affidavit of his expert, Linas J. Adams, M.D. ("Dr. Adams"). The Trial Court heard argument and entered an order on March 21, 1997, granting partial summary judgment to Dr. Porter. The Trial Court held that Dr. Porter "should be granted partial summary judgment on the issue of whether he negligently performed the PEG tube operative procedure . . . ." The Trial Court further held that disputed issues remained regarding whether the "PEG tube operative procedure was medically indicated" and whether Dr. Porter obtained appropriate informed consent.
Dr. Adams' deposition was taken in February of 2002. The deposition questions and answers revealed that Dr. Adams had not reviewed all of the Fort Sanders and University of Tennessee Hospital records relating to Ms. Sipe's care. During this deposition, defense counsel provided Dr. Adams with portions of those records that Dr. Adams had not reviewed previously and then questioned Dr. Adams regarding those records.
Dr. Porter then filed a motion for partial summary judgment on the issue of whether the PEG tube operative procedure was medically indicated. In his brief filed in support of that motion, Dr. Porter stated that prior to Dr. Adams' deposition, Dr. Adams "had not fully considered and reviewed pertinent Fort Sanders and University of Tennessee Hospital records relating to Mrs. Gladys Sipe's nutritional and eating problems . . . ." Dr. Porter's brief quotes portions of Dr. Adams' deposition filed with the Trial Court where Dr. Adams was questioned regarding portions of the previously unreviewed records. The motion contends that Dr. Adams' answers to these deposition questions both contradicted his earlier opinions as expressed in his affidavit and, in fact, were favorable to Dr. Porter on the issue of whether the PEG tube operative procedure was medically indicated.
Plaintiff responded to the motion for partial summary judgment and filed the Supplemental Affidavit of Dr. Adams. After his deposition, Dr. Adams was provided with both the portions of the chart on which deposition questions were based and the surrounding records that had not been reviewed by Dr. Adams prior to his deposition. Dr. Adams reviewed all these additional records prior to signing his supplemental affidavit. The supplemental affidavit specifically states that Dr. Adams had reviewed additional records that had not been made available to him at the time of his deposition. The supplemental affidavit expresses additional opinions, explains his opinions in light of the newly reviewed records, and, just like his original affidavit, opines that Dr. Porter fell below the acceptable standard of care in performing a PEG tube placement on Ms. Sipe.
The Trial Court entered an order on September 27, 2002, granting Dr. Porter partial summary judgment holding that Dr. Adams' opinions "on the issue of medical indication for the PEG procedure" are contradictory and holding that Dr. Adams' e
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