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Newton v. Ohio Univ. School of Osteopathic Medicine11/23/1993
TYACK, Judge.
In 1988, the Ohio University School of Osteopathic Medicine, the Ohio University Osteopathic Medical Center, Inc., and William J. Seifer, D.O., entered into an arrangement under the terms of which Dr. Seifer would provide direct care for obstetrics and gynecology patients; would supervise interns, residents and medical students at a private hospital; and would prepare appropriate reports and other paperwork. Much of the work was to be performed at the private hospital, Grandview Hospital and Medical Center. The interns and residents were employees of the hospital. Some of the work was performed at an affiliated clinic run by Lebanon Family Practice Physicians, Inc., in Lebanon, Ohio.
On March 7, 1990, Tammy R. Newton first saw Dr. Seifer at the clinic managed by Lebanon Family Practice Physicians, Inc. Tammy was pregnant for the third time. She was expecting twins. Her "due date" was in late July 1990.
Tammy was monitored by Dr. Seifer from the March appointment onward. A series of ultrasounds were done. An ultrasound conducted on July 9, 1990 indicated that both twins were in transverse lie, meaning the lie of the fetus is perpendicular to the lie of the maternal abdomen.
Newton went into false labor on more than one occasion and was sent home from Grandview Hospital without delivering. On July 14, 1990, she presented herself to the hospital and was found to be in labor. Her care was initially monitored by staff from Grandview Hospital, including Cathy Coats, D.O., who was a first-year resident under the supervision of Dr. Seifer.
Attempts were made to contact Dr. Seifer on the afternoon of July 14, 1990, but he was either unavailable or unwilling to come to the hospital because he was participating in a golf tournament. After he became aware of Newton's presence at the hospital and apparently after his participation in the golf tournament was completed, Dr. Seifer went to the hospital to evaluate the situation. An ultrasound was conducted, followed by two flat plate x-rays. The results of the ultrasound and the x-rays are subject to varying recollection by different professionals. Dr. Coats later recalled one of the x-rays as showing that one twin was in a frank breech position and the other twin was in a transverse lie. These positions were noted in the hospital records at 9:25 p.m., on July 14, 1990.
Dr. Seifer left the hospital and went to dinner. He then engaged in other activities and, at approximately 2:00 a.m., he returned to the hospital. Newton had not yet delivered either twin. Dr. Seifer later claimed that at least one of the x-rays indicated that the first twin was in a breech position. The second twin he claimed was in a cephalic, or headfirst, position.
Dr. Seifer, although he was over sixty years of age and had spent many years as an OB/GYN, had never delivered a child by Caesarean section. Indeed, he claimed that he was incapable of performing a Caesarean section and that he was not licensed to perform the operation. As a result, he had entered into an agreement with physicians at Grandview Hospital that a surgeon or other physician capable of performing a Caesarean section would be on call to respond as his backup should a Caesarean section need to be performed. Under the agreement, the backup surgeon or physician was to respond to the hospital not later than thirty minutes after being summoned. No provision was made for a "crash" or immediate Caesarean section.
The delivery of twins involves risks which are not present in situations involving a single fetus. One of the risks is that after the delivery of the first twin, the changes in the uterus whic
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