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Fulton v. Pontiac General Hospital9/20/2002
FOR PUBLICATION
In this medical malpractice action, defendants appeal by leave granted from the trial court's order denying their motion for summary disposition. We reverse.
I. Facts
On February 15, 1995, Julie Fulton went to see Dr. Deborah Eldridge, a specialist in obstetrics and gynecology, for a prenatal examination. Dr. Eldridge performed an examination and noted that Fulton's cervix was long, closed, thick, and friable, meaning that it bled easily. Dr. Eldridge believed that these conditions were not abnormal for a pregnant woman such as Fulton. Dr. Eldridge also performed a routine pap smear and sent the sample to a Beaumont Hospital laboratory for examination. The cytopathology report from Beaumont stated that the pap smear specimen was "Less Than Optimal," but was within normal limits and contained no cellular abnormalities. Dr. Eldridge did not know what "Less Than Optimal" meant, but she felt that the result of the pap smear was "satisfactory enough to give an overall diagnosis of within normal limits and no abnormal cells." As a result, Dr. Eldridge did not give Fulton another pap smear during her pregnancy.
Fulton delivered her child by cesarean section on July 14, 1995. On July 21, 1995 and July 28, 1995, Fulton visited Dr. Eldridge to ensure that she was healing properly after the childbirth. On both visits, Dr. Eldridge told Fulton to return in approximately four weeks for a standard postpartum pap smear and physical. However, because she was moving, Fulton did not return for the pap smear until November 1, 1995. At that appointment, Dr. Eldridge noticed that Fulton's uterus was enlarged, but she did not perform a pap smear because Fulton's cervix was bleeding too heavily. Dr. Eldridge told Fulton to return for the pap smear when the bleeding ceased or, in any event, to return in no later than three months. Fulton returned to Dr. Eldridge in December 1995 for the pap smear and physical. As a result of the pap smear performed at that time, Fulton was diagnosed with stage IIB cervical cancer.
On June 11, 1997, Julie Fulton and Paul Fulton (plaintiff) filed a medical malpractice action against defendants, alleging that defendants' failure to properly diagnose and treat Fulton resulted in a loss of Fulton's opportunity to survive. On April 5, 1998, Fulton died of complications related to cancer. On November 4, 1999, plaintiff, the personal representative of Fulton's estate, filed an amended complaint accounting for Fulton's death. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan joined the action as an intervening plaintiff to enforce its rights. The Michigan Attorney General and Michigan Department of Community Health also joined the action as intervening plaintiffs.
Plaintiff's expert oncologist, Dr. Robert R. Taylor, testified in his deposition that Dr. Eldridge's observations on February 15, 1995 should have led her to suspect that Fulton may have been in the early stages of cervical cancer. Dr. Taylor interpreted Fulton's "Less Than Optimal" pap smear result to mean either that technical errors existed with the sample or that the cells in the sample were obscured by blood cells, bacteria, or other organisms. Dr. Taylor opined that Dr. Eldridge breached the standard of care by failing to order a repeat pap smear for Fulton after the February 1995 examination and by failing to give Fulton a pap smear during her postpartum period. Dr. Taylor testified that a patient with early invasive cervical cancer, such as Fulton had in February 1995, had an eighty-five percent chance to survive. Before her death, Fulton testified that if she had been diagnosed with cervical cancer in February 1995, she would not have begun treating the cancer until
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