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Williams v. Enriquez11/17/2005
Before WILLIAMS, CARAWAY and LOLLEY, JJ.
In this case, appellant, the Patients' Compensation Fund ("PCF"), assigned as error a discrepancy between the amount of the damage awards assessed against the PCF in the trial court's written reasons for judgment and the amount of the final judgment ultimately rendered against it. Our review of this matter causes us to conclude that the final judgment, which awarded separate damages to the injured plaintiff and his spouse in the form of a single unexplained amount, is an indeterminate judgment. Accordingly, we set aside the erroneous judgment and remand the matter to the trial court.
Facts
At approximately 5:30 p.m on May 17, 1991, Lee Williams sustained a high pressure hand injection injury. A hydraulic hose on a piece of farm equipment he was repairing burst under 2200 pounds of pressure, injecting hot oil into his hand. Williams and his wife, Margaret, reported to the Richland Parish Hospital emergency room a little more than an hour after the accident. There they saw Dr. Jose Romero Enriquez who washed the wound with saline and sutured in a drain for the purpose of draining the hydraulic fluid. Thereafter, Dr. Enriquez released Williams and instructed him to return to the emergency room in the morning for a dressing change.
This malpractice action rests on Dr. Enriquez's failure to advise Williams of the immediate need for surgical intervention for his wounded hand. Dr. Enriquez testified during the initial trial on the issue of liability that Williams refused his recommendations for an immediate surgical evaluation and that his treatment for implanting the drain was the best he could fashion under the circumstances. Nevertheless, this testimony was rejected by the trial court in view of Mr. and Mrs. Williams' testimony to the contrary and the lack of medical records documenting the severity of the injury and Williams' refusal to follow any recommendation for surgery.
Although Williams experienced tremendous pain during the night of the accident, he did not return to the emergency room until the following morning as directed by Dr. Enriquez. Upon Williams' arrival, Dr. Enriquez consulted by phone with a physician from St. Francis Medical Center in Monroe, LA. Williams arrived at St. Francis at approximately 11:30 a.m. on May 18, 1991, where he saw Dr. Douglass Liles, an orthopedic surgeon. Dr. Liles immediately performed emergency surgery for the debridement of the wound on the injured hand.
Williams remained in St. Francis until his release on July 3, 1991 during which time he underwent approximately fourteen surgical procedures including surgery for the amputation of his right index and middle fingers. The hand also required reconstructive and plastic surgery and a skin graft which involved the sewing of Williams' hand to his abdominal area for seven weeks.
Williams submitted a malpractice claim against Dr. Enriquez to a medical review panel in accordance with the Louisiana Medical Malpractice Act (MMA), La. R.S. 40:1299.41 et seq. On November 18, 1993, the medical review panel concluded that there remained material issues of fact, not requiring expert opinion, bearing on liability which should be determined by a court. On January 28, 1994, the Williamses instituted a medical malpractice suit against Dr. Enriquez and his insurer, the Medical Protective Company. A bifurcated trial on the issue of Dr. Enriquez's liability occurred in October of 1998. The trial court rendered a judgment in favor of the Williamses which was affirmed on appeal in an unpublished opinion.
On December 18, 2001, the trial court rendered a judgment approving a settlement agreement between
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