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Walker v. Giles11/18/2005
resulting in her impaired physical and mental condition and the loss of her child. The case proceeded to a jury trial on the theory that, had appellees acted within the appropriate standard of care and properly diagnosed and treated Walker in a timely fashion, Walker would have had surgery to remove her appendix prior to its rupture, and, therefore, would not have become septic, lost her fetus, developed ARDS, and suffered a stroke resulting in right-sided paralysis and other deficits.
At trial, Walker's medical experts testified that Dr. Giles deviated from the applicable standard of care on Wednesday night when she was the on-call obstetrician. They testified that Dr. Giles acted negligently by failing to order a follow-up complete blood study to see if Walker's condition was worsening, given that Dr. Giles had received Walker's initial blood study results that showed a "shift to the left" signaling (in their view) a potential bacterial abdominal infection rather than viral gastroenteritis.
Walker's medical experts also opined that Dr. Klein deviated from the standard of care on Thursday when she was the on-call obstetrician. They contended that Dr. Klein committed negligence by failing to order a follow-up blood study of Walker, given the initial blood study results from Wednesday that were made available to Dr. Klein, combined with Walker's continuing signs and symptoms that the experts believed were inconsistent with what would have been observed in a fully-hydrated patient suffering from viral gastroenteritis. In light of these indicators, Walker's medical experts further testified that Dr. Klein deviated from the standard of care by not consulting with a general surgeon and ensuring that an abdominal CT scan was performed on Thursday, which would have shown that Walker had appendicitis.
According to Walker's medical experts, Dr. Gingrey deviated from the standard of care on Friday morning by discharging Walker in light of what the experts believed to be her worsening condition reflected in her medical chart, by not ordering a follow-up blood study, and by failing to consult with a general surgeon and ensure that an abdominal CT scan was performed. They opined that Dr. Gingrey acted negligently on Friday night and throughout the day Saturday by allegedly failing to physically examine Walker, by not recognizing from his review of Walker's medical chart on Saturday morning that she had acute appendicitis, and by not ensuring that an abdominal CT scan was performed during this period.
Following the appellants' completion of their case-in-chief, appellees moved for directed verdict. For purposes of their motion, appellees conceded that appellants had presented evidence creating a genuine issue of material fact over whether appellees had committed negligence and on the issue of damages. Instead, appellees argued that even assuming negligence on their part in the diagnosis and treatment of Walker, appellants had failed to come forward with evidence of cause-in- fact or proximate cause. Specifically, appellees argued that appellants could not show cause-in-fact because there was no evidence that appellees' alleged negligence caused Walker's ruptured appendix or the loss of her unborn child. Second, appellees argued that appellants could not show proximate cause because the negligence of Dr. Smith and Dr. Novak during the course of Walker's second admission to the hospital was an intervening cause that superceded and cut off any negligence attributable to appellees as a matter of law. The trial court agreed with appellees and granted their motion to dismiss, stating on the record that "as a matter of law, I find that the acts or the inactions of the [appellees] were not th
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