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Clark v. Sporre11/6/2002
Appellant-plaintiff Marlene Clark appeals the judgment on her medical malpractice claim entered in favor of appellees-defendants Roger Sporre, M.D., OB/GYN Consultants, LLC, and Dale Sloan, M.D. First, Clark contends that the trial court erroneously barred her expert witness, a neuropsychologist, from testifying about the cause of her mental impairment. Second, Clark challenges the trial court's refusal to admit into evidence her video compilation, which contained edited and rearranged videotaped-deposition testimony favorable to her malpractice claim. Finally, Clark argues that two jury instructions were erroneous and prejudicial. One jury instruction explained the composition and responsibilities of a medical review panel, and the other limited proof of causation to expert witness testimony.
We need not decide whether a neuropsychologist may render an expert opinion on medical causation. The causation opinion of Clark's expert was speculation, lacking any basis in the record. As for the video compilation, the trial court was within its discretion to exclude it from evidence because the compilation resulted in a misimpression. Further, all three video depositions, from which the compilation was created, were later admitted into evidence in their entirety. Regarding the jury instruction on the medical review panel, Clark has shown no abuse of discretion in giving it. And, because causation was not a disputed issue, any error in the instruction limiting proof of causation to expert-witness testimony would have been harmless. Therefore, we affirm.
FACTS
The facts most favorable to the verdict show that, before the surgery at issue here, Clark had had a ten-year history of abdominal pain, diarrhea, and chronic fever. No cause for Clark's symptoms was ever found despite various tests and consultations. Clark's family doctor sent her to the Mayo Clinic, the University of Chicago , the Loyola Medical Center, and various Fort Wayne medical centers. None of these medical centers were able to find the cause of Clark's symptoms. By the time Clark was referred to Dr. Sporre, the record of Clark's procedures, tests, and consultations totaled nearly 800 pages.
In 1993, Clark's family doctor referred her to Dr. Sporre, a gynecologist, because a CT scan had found evidence of ovarian cysts. A surgical evaluation was required to determine whether the cysts were malignant and whether the cysts were related to her symptoms. Dr. Sporre decided to perform a laparoscopy, an outpatient procedure involving a small abdominal incision and the insertion of a scope to evaluate Clark's pelvic area, including her ovaries, for cancer or an abscess. During the procedure on February 16, 1993, Dr. Sporre noticed that the scope had punctured Clark's small bowel. He then summoned the general surgeon, Dr. Sloan, to assist in repairing the perforation. Dr. Sloan repaired the perforation and examined the small bowel for other signs of injury but found none.
After the procedure, Clark's condition deteriorated, leading her treating physicians to conclude that she could be suffering from an undetected bowel perforation. Three days later, Dr. Sloan again operated on Clark, discovered the perforation, and repaired it. For several months Clark was critically ill due to the three days spent with the undetected perforation. She experienced "multi-organ failure, including respiratory failure, renal failure requiring dialysis, and ventilator dependence." Appellant's App. p. 88. Clark also required a tracheostomy, tube feeding, and drainage of an abscess.
Exactly two years after the first surgery, Clark filed her proposed complaint for damages with the Indiana Department of Insur
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