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SINKFIELD v. OH12/5/1997
Lorrie Marie Sinkfield sued Shi-Han Oh, M.D., and Gerry Farmer, M.D. her treating obstetricians, after she suffered a miscarriage. Sinkfield challenges the summary judgment in favor of the defendant doctors.
Viewed in the light most favorable to Sinkfield, the non-movant, the evidence was as follows. Sinkfield began treatment with Drs. Oh and Farmer in late November 1992. From the time of her initial visit until the miscarriage on January 19, 1993, Sinkfield at various points complained of amniotic fluid leakage, vaginal bleeding, and abdominal and back pain. Before this pregnancy, she had experienced two prior miscarriages. In the latter part of December, Sinkfield's heavy bleeding and severe abdominal pain necessitated her hospitalization. On her release date of December 24, Dr. Farmer prescribed Motrin 800 for pain and lifted the total bed rest restriction prescribed by Dr. Oh. Sinkfield subsequently returned to work. On January 19, Sinkfield suffered a miscarriage, delivering a male fetus with a gestational age of 20 to 22 weeks. In the underlying action, she alleged that Drs. Oh and Farmer failed to properly diagnose her medical condition as a high risk pregnancy and failed to provide
appropriate medical treatment.
Sinkfield's expert, Verna A. Thornton, M.D., enumerated several deviations from proper care by her treating physicians including: failure to place Sinkfield on a contraction or fetal monitor, failure to prescribe any medication to stop premature contractions, negligently dismissing her from the hospital, failure to perform tests for fetal heart tones, failure to restrict her to complete bed rest with prescribed medicine, failure to test for leaking amniotic fluid and a deviation from the applicable standard of care by prescribing Motrin 800. On deposition, Dr. Thornton attested that prescribing Motrin was inappropriate because one of its side effects is a reduction of amniotic fluid. Five days before her physician prescribed Motrin, an ultra sound test indicated a normal amount of amniotic fluid. When Sinkfield delivered the stillborn fetus a month later, no amniotic fluid was present.
On summary judgment, the defendant physicians contended that even assuming arguendo that they had failed to provide appropriate care and treatment for Sinkfield's medical condition, Sinkfield failed to offer any evidence showing that their acts or omissions caused her miscarriage. In response, Sinkfield submitted the affidavit of Charles Proctor, Ph.D., a pharmacologist and toxicologist. Dr. Proctor claimed to have expert knowledge of the effects of dosages of Motrin on pregnant women and their fetuses at various stages of pregnancy. Dr. Proctor testified that it was his professional opinion that "the Motrin-800 (ibuprofen, 800 milligrams) prescribed by Dr. Gerry Farmer on December 24, 1992 was the predominate major contributing factor to the demise of the fetus of Lorrie Marie Sinkfield." According to Dr. Proctor, the fetus' demise "was precipitated by Motrin-800 (ibuprofen, 800 milligrams) induced Oligohydramnios (deficit in amniotic fluid)." Finding that Dr. Proctor was not a medical doctor, the trial court rejected Dr. Proctor's testimony as "incompetent." The court held that because Sinkfield failed to establish by competent evidence that any breach of the applicable standard of care by the physicians caused or contributed to her injury, the physicians were entitled to summary judgment as a matter of law Held:
1. The trial court erred in holding that the affidavit of Charles Proctor, Ph.D., was not competent evidence. In this procedural posture, summary judgment, Proctor's testimony was admissible evidence for the limited purpose for which it was offered
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