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Gentry v. Biddle11/2/2005
Court composed of Ulysses Gene Thibodeaux, Chief Judge, Michael G. Sullivan and Elizabeth A. Pickett, Judges.
AFFIRMED AS AMENDED.
The Louisiana Patients' Compensation Fund (PCF) appeals a judgment of the trial court awarding damages to the plaintiff, Claudia Reynolds Gentry, arguing that the trial court improperly excluded certain evidence from the trial of this matter. Gentry has answered the appeal seeking an increase in the damage award. For the following reasons we amend the judgment to increase damages and, as amended, affirm.
FACTS
Dr. John Biddle, Jr., performed a Caesarian section and bilateral tubal ligation on Claudia Reynolds Gentry on January 25, 2000. During the procedure, Dr. Biddle unknowingly punctured Gentry's cecum. Gentry spent four days in the hospital post surgery, during which time she complained of swelling and pain in her abdomen. Nevertheless, she was discharged from the hospital on January 29, 2000. Significantly, Dr. Biddle noted positive bowel sounds and flatus, but Gentry had not had a bowel movement at the time of her discharge. Dr. Biddle prescribed laxatives in an effort to resolve this issue.
When her pain intensified after her discharge, Gentry returned to the hospital on January 30, 2000. Dr. Biddle continued to use diagnostic testing to discover the cause of Gentry's problem, with no results. On February 4, 2000, Dr. Biddle consulted with Dr. Thomas Rossowski, a general surgeon, who immediately prepared Gentry for a laparotomy. Dr. Rossowski immediately noted the problem upon making the abdominal incision. According to his operative report, "a large amount of green stool promptly spilled over and covered patient's sheets and our nurse's wardrobe." Dr. Rossowski discovered two linear perforations in Gentry's cecum. He removed 13.9 centimeters of her right colon, cleaned up the abdomen, and performed a colostomy and ileostomy. Gentry had to undergo additional surgeries on February 9 and February 19. She remained in the intensive care unit for twenty days, through February 24, 2000. She remained in the hospital through March 9, 2000.
Gentry, individually and on behalf of her minor children, Katie Scarlett Alexandra Gentry, age 12, John Andrew Cocodrie Reynolds-Gentry, an infant, and her daughter, Melodie Marie Tete, (hereinafter collectively referred to as Gentry) instituted a medical malpractice claim against Dr. Biddle on May 1, 2000, by requesting a Medical Review Panel with the Patients' Compensation Fund Oversight Board. On June 13, 2001, the Medical Review Panel issued its report. The panel found that Dr. Biddle had failed to meet the appropriate standard of care in delaying the consultation with a general surgeon past February 2, 2000. As to the issues of the injury to the cecum and her original discharge on January 28, the panel stated:
From the records provided, it is extremely difficult for us to make any definitive finding as to the actual cause of the bowel injury. However, even if it was caused by sharp or blunt trauma during the surgery, this is a potential complication of the procedure which is listed on the consent form. We do note that this is a very uncommon complication in the literature and in our personal practices. Also, it is not a requirement for discharge that the patient had a bowel movement, as long as bowel sounds are present and the patient is passing flatus.
On June 14, 2001, Gentry filed a Petition for Damages in district court, alleging two acts of medical malpractice against Dr. Biddle: causing the perforations to her intestines during the initial surgery and treating Gentry conservatively upon her readmission. Following almost two years of di
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