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Piper v. Bear Medical Systems11/18/1993
Bear Medical Systems, Inc. ("Bear") appeals from the judgment following a jury trial in a products liability action brought by Fred Piper, individually and as personal representative of the estate of Ila Piper. We hold in this opinion that reasonably foreseeable modifications of a product will not bar recovery against the manufacturer. However, the manufacturer's conduct in this case was insufficient to justify a punitive damages instruction. We affirm the trial court's denial of a directed verdict and judgment notwithstanding the verdict ("JNOV") for the manufacturer but reverse the punitive damages award.
FACTS
After undergoing surgery at Marcus J. Lawrence Memorial Hospital for the removal of two malignant lung tumors, Ila Piper developed adult respiratory distress syndrome ("ARDS"). She was placed on the Bear 2 Adult Volume Ventilator ("Bear 2") to assist her breathing.
An expiratory arm is attached to the Bear 2. The expiratory arm begins with an exhalation valve and a water collection trap. The water trap is connected to a flow tube with a mounted flow sensor to measure the volume of exhaled gas. Attached to the end of the flow tube is a one-way check valve which permits air flow in only one direction. The check valve, manufactured by Bird Products Corporation, prevents the patient from inhaling through the expiratory arm, ensuring that any gas going into the patient comes from the sterile ventilator. The component parts of the Bear 2 expiratory arm are diametrically indexed; this means the parts cannot be reversed, superimposed, or placed in a configuration other than the intended sequence unless other components are added.
Here, a respiratory therapist at the hospital used a rubber universal adaptor, manufactured by Bear, to connect a bacterial filter to the flow tube on the Bear 2 ventilator used by Mrs. Piper. The therapist added the filter to the ventilator to prevent bacteria emitted through Mrs. Piper's expiration from contaminating those who worked near her.
Approximately ten days after Mrs. Piper was placed on the Bear 2, a nurse accidentally knocked off the expiratory arm causing the ventilator alarms to sound. The nurse attempted to reassemble the parts and sought the help of another nurse because no respiratory therapist was on duty at the time. One of the nurses inverted the one-way check valve on the ventilator when reassembling and the alarms on the Bear 2 continued to sound.
The proper procedure in this situation is to disconnect the patient from the ventilator and use other medical equipment to manually assist breathing. However, Mrs. Piper was not removed from the ventilator for several minutes, during which the inverted check valve permitted her to inhale but prevented her from exhaling. Because the check valve was inverted, the pressure increased in Mrs. Piper's chest, preventing blood from returning to the heart or circulating to the brain, which in turn caused serious, neurological damage. After this incident, Mrs. Piper's condition steadily deteriorated. With her family's consent, she was eventually taken off the ventilator and died shortly afterward.
Fred Piper, the surviving spouse, filed a wrongful death action against several defendants including Bear. Only the claims against Bear are involved in this appeal. After denying Bear's motions for directed verdicts, the trial court submitted the case to the jury which returned a verdict finding zero compensatory damages but awarding punitive damages. The trial court rejected this verdict and instructed the jury to continue its deliberation. The jury later returned verdicts for the plaintiff, awarding $10,000 in compensatory damages and $75
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