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Williams v. Notami Hospitals of Louisiana11/4/2005
out of the use of a multi-level treatment table to adjust plaintiff's spine, and against William Dear, D.C., for failing to supervise and instruct Dr. Crossman in the use of the treatment table. After the medical review panel process was completed, plaintiff filed a petition for damages alleging medical practice regarding the claims submitted to the medical review panel. Plaintiff later filed an amending and supplemental petition alleging that the same health care provider defendants committed other acts of malpractice, namely:
(1) Failure to perform adequate x-ray examinations during any and all office visits with defendants;
(2) Failure to perform any examinations and x-rays subsequent to treatment by Marshall Crossman, D.C. ... when William Dear, D.C. knew or in the exercise of reasonable care should have known that plaintiff suffered an injury ;
(3) Abandonment of care to plaintiff;
(4) Failure to properly direct and supervise the work of Marshall Crossman, D.C.
Lewis, 582 So.2d at 993.
The trial court granted the dilatory exception raising the objection of prematurity, and this court affirmed the judgment, finding that allegations 1, 2 and 3 constituted new complaints or claims of malpractice unrelated to the treatment table that had not been presented to the medical review panel.
The Lewis holding is inapposite to the present case because the allegations contained in plaintiffs' first supplemental and amended petition for damages do not raise new complaints or claims of medical malpractice, but merely set forth clarifying facts regarding the standards of care applicable to the fall sustained by Mr. Williams during the January 1, 2000 admission, and the alleged breaches of those standards of care by LRMC, all of which should have been considered by the health care providers comprising the medical review panel pursuant to their statutory duty.
At the medical review panel stage, the plaintiff is not required to set out the appropriate standards of care and specifically delineate every breach of the applicable standards of care, but rather need only present sufficient information for the medical review panel to make a determination as to whether the defendant health care provider is entitled to the protections of the MMA regarding the claimed medical malpractice. See Perritt, 849 So.2d at 65.
In this case, plaintiffs' complaint and submission of evidence presented sufficient information for the medical review panel to make a determination regarding whether the defendant health care providers failed to meet the applicable standards of care regarding the fall sustained by Mr. Williams's during his January 2000 stay. The medical review panel specifically determined that Dr. Limbaugh's emergency room treatment was appropriate, that Dr. Saguiguit's evaluation and treatment for multiple problems was appropriate, and that the treatment at LRMC did not fall below the applicable standard of care because Mr. Williams had an unexpected event, was not a candidate for restraints and because the subsequent neurological changes were properly identified, documented and reported.
After thoroughly reviewing the record, we find that the administrative remedy required to address the allegations made in the supplemental and amending petition has been exhausted, and that LRMC has failed to show that an administrative remedy remains available. Having made such determination, we find the plaintiffs' first supplemental and amended petition for damages was not premature and that the defendant's dilatory exception raising the objection of prematurity was properly overruled by the trial court. Accordingly, we
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