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ESTATE OF R. L. PATTERSON v. FULTON-DEKALB7/30/1998
The estate of Roddy Lee Patterson appeals the Fulton County Superior Court's grant of summary judgment to the defendant-appellee Fulton-DeKalb Hospital Authority ("Hospital Authority") in this medical malpractice action. We affirm.
The evidence shows that, on June 30, 1994, decedent Patterson presented himself to Grady Memorial Hospital, which is operated by the Hospital Authority. Patterson was 46-years-old and complained of weakness on his left side; he reported that he had suffered a blow to his head two weeks earlier. Patterson's health history indicated that he had been taking aspirin for pain, was a long-term smoker, and had a history of heavy alcohol consumption. The neurology attending physician directed a resident physician to administer Heparin, a blood-thinning agent. Later the same day, Patterson developed an intracerebral hemorrhage and died.
Patterson's estate and the legal guardian of his two minor children ("the Pattersons") filed suit against the hospital on June 20, 1996, alleging that the administration of Heparin deviated from a minimal standard of care and caused Patterson's death. Attached to the complaint was an affidavit from Richard D. Franco, M.D., a neurologist, who stated that he had reviewed Patterson's medical file; such files were not attached to the affidavit and are not included in the record. However, based solely upon his review of the medical files, Dr. Franco concluded that the use of Heparin "may have contributed" to Patterson's death.
The Hospital Authority moved for summary judgment on June 10, 1997, asserting that the Pattersons had failed to present evidence
that any alleged negligence on the part of the Hospital Authority or its agents was the proximate cause of the decedent's death. The Hospital Authority attached to its motion an affidavit from the attending physician which affirmatively stated that the administration of Heparin was consistent with the standard of care ordinarily exercised by physicians under similar conditions and, further, that such administration did not proximately cause or contribute to Patterson's death. Finally, the Hospital Authority also claimed that Dr. Franco's affidavit was without probative value on a motion for summary judgment, as the medical records upon which his conclusions were based were not attached to the affidavit, as required by OCGA § 9-11-56 (e).
In response, the Pattersons relied upon their pleadings and Dr. Franco's affidavit and did not submit any additional evidence for consideration. On January 15, 1998, the trial court granted summary judgment to the Hospital Authority, finding that the Pattersons had failed to establish the required element of causation. This appeal followed. Held:
1. In the first enumeration of error, the Pattersons assert that the trial court erred in failing to consider Dr. Franco's affidavit when ruling upon the summary judgment motion. This enumeration lacks merit. As shown in Division 2, infra, it is clear from the order that the trial court did, in fact, consider the affidavit in reaching its conclusion that the Pattersons had failed to establish causation. Accordingly, there was no error.
However, this Court notes that the medical records upon which Dr. Franco reached his conclusions were not attached to his affidavit or included in the record. Therefore, even though the affidavit may have been sufficient for pleading purposes under OCGA § 9-11-9.1 (a), the affidavit was insufficient under OCGA § 9-11-56 (e) to meet the evidentiary standards on a motion for summary judgment and, as a matter of law, lacked any probative value. See Goring v. Martinez, 224 Ga. App. 137, 139 (2) (b) (ii) (479 S.E.2d 432) (1996); V
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