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Steinkamp v. Arreola9/23/1999
This is an appeal from the trial court's summary judgment in favor of the defendant nurse and her employer on the plaintiff's nursing negligence claims. We affirm in part, and we reverse and remand in part.
FACTS
On November 16, 1993, appellee Patricia Arreola, a home care nurse employed by appellee Caremark, was caring for Camilla Steinkamp, who was homebound with a difficult pregnancy. Arreola inserted a catheter in Steinkamp's arm, which began to disintegrate in Steinkamp's vein. Steinkamp had to undergo surgery to remove the catheter fragments without anesthesia because of her pregnancy. She sued Arreola and Caremark, contending that Arreola's negligent insertion of the catheter caused it to disintegrate. She also sued Vygon Corporation, the manufacturer of the catheter. Steinkamp claimed damages in the form of physical pain and mental anguish for having to undergo surgery without anesthesia and present and future physical pain and mental anguish for suffering a permanent, physical impairment known as thoracic outlet syndrome. Vygon filed a motion for summary judgment and a subsequent motion for severance, both of which the trial court granted. Arreola and Caremark then filed their motion for summary judgment. In her response to that motion, Steinkamp relied in part upon Vygon's summary judgment motion and corresponding evidence. That summary judgment evidence included affidavits from Vygon Vice-President John Leaity, engineering professor David Hullender, and registered nurse Rebecca Wilkins, as well as testimony excerpts from Arreola's deposition. Steinkamp also expressly relied on her own responses to Vygon's summary judgment motion, as well as a deposition excerpt from her own nursing expert, Dr. Helen Castillo. Arreola and Caremark objected to Steinkamp's reliance on Vygon's summary judgment evidence, asserting that that evidence was a part of the Vygon case, which had been severed, was not a part of the Caremark case, and therefore was not properly before the trial court. The trial court agreed with Arreola and Caremark, struck that portion of Steinkamp's proffered summary judgment evidence that had originated in the Vygon claim, and granted the defendants' motion for summary judgment. On appeal, Steinkamp challenges the trial court's order striking some of her evidence and the trial court's ultimate decision to grant summary judgment in favor of Arreola and Caremark.
STANDARD OF REVIEW
Caremark and Arreola filed a no-evidence summary judgment motion pursuant to Rule 166a(i) of the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure. The Rule provides:
After adequate time for discovery, a party without presenting summary judgment evidence may move for summary judgment on the ground that there is no evidence of one or more essential elements of a claim or defense on which an adverse party would have the burden of proof at trial. The motion must state the elements as to which there is no evidence. The court must grant the motion unless the respondent produces summary judgment evidence raising a genuine issue of material fact.
Since its inception, appellate courts have held that the standard of review for a no-evidence summary judgment is the same as that for a directed verdict. Thus, we must review the evidence in the light most favorable to the respondent against whom the no-evidence summary judgment was rendered, disregarding all contrary evidence and inferences. A no-evidence summary judgment is improperly granted if the respondent counters with more than a scintilla of probative evidence to raise a genuine issue of material fact. Less than a scintilla of evidence exists when the evidence is "`so weak as to do no more than create a mer
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