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Wells v. Miami Valley Hosp.8/30/1993
FAIN, Judge.
The plaintiffs' decedent, Renee Wells, was treated by medical professionals at Miami Valley Hospital for preeclampsia, a serious, life-threatening condition associated with late pregnancy. Her treatment included a caesarian delivery and the insertion of a central venous pressure ("CVP") catheter. There was credible medical testimony to the effect that the improper placement of the CVP catheter caused a cardiac tamponade, in which the pericardium is filled with so much fluid from the misplaced catheter that the resulting pressure shuts the heart down, causing death. The plaintiffs' theory of the cause of death was simple-the treatment rendered by medical professionals at the hospital killed the patient, and no one did anything to stop it, even though the patient's declining vital signs made it clear that something was very wrong.
Although certain defendants were the beneficiaries of a directed verdict, a jury awarded a verdict in the amount of $602,587.80 against defendants-appellants Miami Valley Hospital ("MVH") and Dr. Deborah Miller. These defendantsmoved for judgment notwithstanding the verdict and for a new trial. The trial court granted the new trial motion, but denied the motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict.
Dr. Miller and MVH appeal from the trial court's denial of their motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict. Appellees and cross-appellants Winfred Wells, Administrator of the Estate of Renee Wells, et al. ("appellees"), assert that the trial court erred by granting a new trial on the issue of liability and erred in directing a verdict in favor of defendants MVH and Dr. Jude Crino.
We conclude that there was sufficient evidence to support the jury's verdict on the proximate cause issue.
We find that the trial court properly denied MVH's motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict and properly directed a verdict for Dr. Crino and MVH on the issue of Dr. Crino's failure to attend to Wells.
We also find that the trial court erred in granting MVH's motion for a new trial. Although appellees' experts failed to supply predicate facts in advance of offering their opinions, as required by Evid.R. 705, the experts supplied adequate facts after giving their opinion testimony on all determinative issues, so that each violation of Evid.R. 705 amounted to harmless error, except for one instance where expert opinion testimony came in without predicate facts. In that instance, the testimony was elicited by MVH during cross-examination, MVH having successfully objected to and moved to strike the same testimony on direct. Thus, the receipt of expert testimony without predicate facts on the one occasion where it occurred was invited error.
Finally, we conclude that the trial court erred in directing a verdict in favor of Dr. Crino and MVH, under theories of res ipsa loquitur and agency by estoppel, regarding the issue of the CVP catheter placement verification, where Dr. Crino was an employee of MVH at the time of the catheter placement, and where appellees met their burden of proof by showing that (1) Dr. Crino was one of the "OB Staff" who was in the operating room with Wells at the time of the placement of the CVP, (2) Dr. Crino was co-responsible for Wells's treatment, including treatment related to the verification of the placement of the CVP catheter, which was the shared responsibility between the "OB Staff" and anesthesiologists who are not parties to this action, (3) the failure to verify the placement of the CVP catheter probably fell below the applicable standard of care, (4) it was more likely than not that a proximate cause of Wells's death was the fluid from
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