 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Luedtke v. Ripa9/24/2002
(Not Designated for Permanent Publication)
This is a medical malpractice action from the district court for Lancaster County against Dr. Daniel Ripa, a Lincoln orthopedic surgeon, premised entirely on lack of informed consent. There is clearly a factual dispute, which would ordinarily preclude the summary judgment in Ripa's favor, as to whether Ripa advised his patient, Lola Luedtke (Luedtke), about all of the complications of having hip replacement surgery. However, because Luedtke admitted in her testimony that she would have had the surgery even if she had been told everything she says she was not told, the trial court granted summary judgment to Ripa.
Luedtke filed a timely appeal to this court. Subsequent to the filing of the appeal, Luedtke died of unrelated causes. The appeal has been revived in the name of Donald C. Luedtke, personal representative of Luedtke's estate.
BACKGROUND
Luedtke, a 69-year-old woman, was under treatment by Dr. Melvin Churchill, a Lincoln rheumatologist, for, among other things, a painful right hip. Churchill told her that he thought surgery was the only treatment that could be done, or she could live with the pain. Luedtke said that she wanted the surgery done, "as much as I hurt, as soon as we could." Churchill contacted Ripa to have him examine Luedtke's right hip, in which she was experiencing "intense bad pain." Ripa saw Luedtke on February 26, 1997, and diagnosed her as having a failing hip due to avascular necrosis, a condition in which the blood supply to the bone in the hip fails, ultimately causing collapse of the joint. Luedtke also had pre-existing arthritis and polio, and she had undergone an extensive course of therapy with steroids, which have the side effect of destroying bone. Ripa's assessment of the situation was that the advanced stage of the collapse in Luedtke's hip was such that her only non-surgical option was not to bear weight on the hip and to take pain medication. Ripa did not consider this a viable treatment option because Luedtke's hip had already collapsed. In Ripa's opinion, the only viable treatment was hip replacement surgery. The accuracy of Ripa's diagnosis and his recommendation for surgery are not challenged in any way in this action.
Ripa performed the recommended surgery on Luedtke, and she makes no claim that the surgery was not properly performed. On four different occasions following the surgery, Luedtke's hip has dislocated with attendant pain, medical treatment, and disability, and each incident produces an increased risk of future dislocations. Luedtke's contention is that Ripa did not advise her that one of the risks of the surgery was dislocation of the hip. Luedtke's testimony was that the only complications and risks discussed by Ripa were "anesthesia and infection." Luedtke's petition alleges that she was advised of "bleeding, infection, nerve injury and pain" but that she was never advised of the risk of post-surgical dislocation of her right hip.
On the other hand, Ripa testified that he did advise his patient that susceptibility to dislocation was a risk, and his notes contain a recitation of his advisement of the complications and risks to Luedtke: "Bleeding, infection, nerve injury, pain, stiffness, failure of the components to remain secure (dislocation), and removal should an infection develop."
At the hearing on Ripa's motion for summary judgment, Luedtke introduced the deposition of Dr. Kral Varhan, a Grand Island orthopedic surgeon, who testified that if Ripa did not inform Luedtke of the risk of dislocation, then Ripa would not have met the standard of care, given that in any total hip replacement surgery, dislocation is a well-kn
Page 1 2 3 4 5 Nebraska Personal Injury Attorneys
Personal Injury Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|