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Jensen v. IHC Hospitals11/14/2003
ed in emergency medicine, (4) he had not reviewed any emergency medicine literature regarding the standard of care for an obstetrical patient in her third trimester, (5) he was unfamiliar with the learned treatises and authorities in the field, and (6) he had not worked in an emergency room since his residency more than ten years earlier.
Plaintiffs argued that Dr. DeVore was qualified to testify because he was the Corporate Director of Maternal-Fetal Medicine for IHC at the time Ms. Hipwell was treated at McKay-Dee (an IHC hospital). As such, he was familiar with McKay-Dee's medical policies and procedures for emergency room physicians on how to treat women in the third-trimester of pregnancy, and, therefore, should be allowed to testify about the standard of care. The trial court disagreed.
A. The Trial Court's Ruling
The trial court held that Dr. DeVore could testify as a medical expert on various issues pertaining to Ms. Hipwell's care, provided a proper foundation was laid and his qualifications were established. "With specific regard, however, to testimony addressing Ms. Hipwell's emergency room care," the trial court found that Dr. DeVore was "not qualified to testify regarding her treatment during triage stages, specifically prior to her being diagnosed as needing obstetric care." (Emphasis added.)
On the second day of trial, plaintiffs readdressed the issue. They argued that Dr. DeVore should be able to testify that the applicable standard of care required the emergency room physician to follow-up with an obstetrician once he had obtained the information on Ms. Hipwell. The trial court rejected plaintiffs' argument and reiterated that Dr. DeVore was "not qualified to testify about what emergency room physicians ought to be doing up until time that" an obstetrician is brought in as a consultant. However, the trial court did allow plaintiffs to elicit testimony from Dr. DeVore concerning what was significant to an obstetrician about the emergency room records.
B. Additional Foundation Laid Concerning Dr. DeVore's Qualifications
Following this ruling, plaintiffs laid the following additional foundation during direct examination. Dr. DeVore testified that he had the "opportunity to visit hospitals and teach doctors . . . in the IHC system the standard of care when obstetrical patients with these kind of complaints and this kind of information [like Ms. Hipwell's] [were] presented at the emergency room." He also testified he had "the opportunity to teach doctors, including emergency room doctors, on what doctors at any stage [in treatment] should do with information a third trimester obstetric patient with [Ms. Hipwell's] symptoms." Finally, he testified that, according to his observations, the standard of care for emergency room physicians was the same at all the hospitals where he had worked with respect to obstetric patients presenting Ms. Hipwell's symptoms.
C. Objection to Further Testimony and Motion for a Directed Verdict
After this foundation was laid, plaintiffs again attempted to elicit testimony from Dr. DeVore about the standard of care for emergency room physicians. The trial court sustained defendants' objection to such testimony.
Plaintiffs offered no competent testimony thereafter concerning what the standard of care was for emergency room physicians and whether that standard was breached when Ms. Hipwell was treated at McKay-Dee. As a result, McKay-Dee moved for a partial directed verdict on plaintiffs' emergency room malpractice claim, which the trial court granted.
Because the court granted a partial directed verdict, it later instructed the
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