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Carpenter v. Young5/15/1989
JUSTICE ERICKSON delivered the Opinion of the Court.
We granted certiorari to review the court of appeals decision in Young v. Carpenter, 757 P.2d 148 (Colo. App. 1988), which reversed the trial court's entry of summary judgment in favor of petitioner Stephen Carpenter, M.D. We reverse and return the case to the court of appeals with directions to reinstate the entry of summary judgment.
I.
In this medical malpractice case, Charlotte and Carl Young, individually and on behalf of their daughter Kayla, brought suit against Stephen Carpenter, M.D., James Pfeiff, M.D., Forrest M. Keeler, M.D., Ren Imai, M.D., Colorado Permanante Medical Group, and St. Joseph Hospital, Inc. for injuries sustained by Kayla at birth. On August 30, 1979, Charlotte Young was admitted to St. Joseph Hospital to give birth to Kayla. Mrs. Young was examined upon admission by her attending physician, Dr. Stephen Carpenter, who determined that Young would vaginally deliver an average-sized infant. Mrs. Young was brought to the labor room and her delivery was progressing normally when labor suddenly arrested. Dr. Carpenter informed the Youngs that a cesarean section might be required to deliver the infant. Any potential need for a cesarean section soon vanished when Mrs. Young resumed labor. Approximately thirty minutes after labor resumed, Kayla was precipitously delivered.
During the delivery, the nurses in the labor room made an emergency call for a "precip pack," a sterile package containing instruments used in a precipitous delivery. Dr. Keeler, a third year obstetrics resident, responded to the call and upon entering the labor room noted that Kayla's head was crowning. Since there was no time to transport Mrs. Young to the delivery room, and Dr. Carpenter was not yet present, Dr. Keeler began to deliver Kayla. He performed an episiotomy and delivered the head. The head quickly retracted against the perineum, indicating that Kayla's shoulder was impacted behind her mother's pubic bone. Dr. Keeler diagnosed the baby's condition as shoulder dystocia, and then attempted to dislodge the shoulder by rotating it. When this proved unsuccessful, he then applied downward and outward traction to the baby's head.
While Dr. Keeler was attempting to deliver Kayla, Dr. Carpenter entered the room and assumed control of the delivery. He repositioned Mrs. Young, directed Dr. Keeler to apply suprapubic pressure, and repeated Keeler's traction maneuver. Despite these steps, Kayla still was not delivered. Finally, after several other unsuccessful traction maneuvers, Dr. Carpenter extracted Kayla's free arm, thereby dislodging the impacted shoulder, and delivered her. As a result of this difficult delivery, Kayla suffered a brachial plexus injury which caused permanent partial paralysis of her right shoulder and arm.
On January 16, 1981, the Youngs filed suit on Kayla's behalf in the Denver District Court alleging that Kayla's injuries were caused in part by Keeler's and Carpenter's excessive use of traction on her head and neck. In regard to Dr. Carpenter, the respondents asserted both a direct negligence claim and a respondeat superior claim based upon Dr. Keeler's alleged negligence.
Dr. Keeler moved for summary judgment, arguing that the respondents had failed to present any expert testimony alleging Keeler to have been negligent. The district court, over respondents' objection, granted Keeler's motion for summary judgment and dismissed all claims against him with prejudice. Three days later, the Youngs entered into a settlement agreement with all defendants except Dr. Carpenter. In consideration of releasing Dr. Pfeiff and Colorado Permanente fro
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