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Brown v. Meda3/2/1988
Dorothy Virginia Brown and her husband, Rudolph S. Brown, appeal from a judgment notwithstanding the verdict entered in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City, which set aside a jury verdict in the amount of $600,000 in favor of the Browns against Dr. Harinath S. Meda and entered judgment in favor of Dr. Meda. The appellants present four questions on appeal, which they state as:
I. Whether a motion for judgment or motion for judgment n.o.v. can ever be granted against a Plaintiff who
won at the arbitration proceedings and who has not rejected the arbitration award.
II. Whether the trial court erred in granting the motion for judgment n.o.v. as a matter of law.
III. Whether the trial court erred in granting the motion for judgment n.o.v.
IV. Whether the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur should apply to medical malpractice cases.
Background
On 11 February 1980, Dorothy Virginia Brown underwent bilateral breast biopsy surgery. Mrs. Brown alleged that following this operation she experienced symptoms of ulnar nerve injury, but had no symptoms prior to the procedure. She alleges that she continues to suffer severe and painful disabling injuries and must continue to receive hospital and medical care.
Mrs. Brown and her husband filed an action for medical malpractice against appellee, Harinath S. Meda, M.D., and against Ronald H. Fishbein, M.D., Jacob C. Handelsman, M.D., Alvaro Jarez, M.D., Bonnie Plichta, Sinai Hospital of Baltimore, Inc., S. Goode, R.N., and L. Penix, R.N., asserting that she received an ulnar nerve injury to her right arm during the breast biopsy as the result of the improper positioning of her arm while she was unconscious. The original action was filed on 25 January 1983 with the Health Claims Arbitration Office.
The case was heard by the Health Claims Arbitration Panel beginning 29 April 1985. Prior to the hearing, appellants dismissed with prejudice their claims against everyone except Plichta, Sinai Hospital, and Dr. Meda. Subsequently the arbitration panel granted the motions for judgment filed by the remainder of the health care providers at the close of plaintiffs' case, leaving only the claim against Dr. Meda, who had allegedly administered the anesthetic during the surgery. The panel determined Dr. Meda was solely liable
for negligently causing Mrs. Brown's nerve injury and awarded her $300,000.
Dr. Meda filed a notice of rejection of the arbitration panel's award and the Browns subsequently filed a complaint and election for jury trial. Their complaint alleged that Dr. Meda was negligent in that he, his agents, servants and employees, failed to position Mrs. Brown's arm properly for the surgical procedure and failed to monitor the position of her arm carefully while she was unconscious.
Appellee's motion for judgment at the conclusion of the evidence (Rule 2-519) was denied and, as previously stated, the jury awarded appellants damages of $600,000. Appellee then moved for judgment notwithstanding the verdict. (Rule 2-532) Relying on this Court's holding in Hans v. Franklin Square Hosp., 29 Md. App. 329, 347 A.2d 905 (1975), cert. denied, 276 Md. 744 (1976), the trial court found that the testimony of appellants' expert witnesses, both before the arbitration panel and before the jury, "rested upon inferences and thus constituted the kind of res ipsa loquitur evidence barred by Hans, " and granted the motion. This appeal followed.
I and II
Appellants first assert that neither a motion for judgment nor a motion fo
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