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Morrell v. Finke11/3/2005
I. Introduction
Donna Morrell gave birth to her first child, Madeline, on December 31, 1994, at Arlington Memorial Hospital. Donna and her husband, Robert Morrell, individually and as next friends for Madeline (Plaintiffs), brought suit alleging that Madeline suffered permanent neurological injuries proximately caused during labor and delivery by the negligence of Defendants Mary Angeline Finke, M.D.; Dr. Finke's employer, Obstetrical & Gynecological Associates of Arlington, Inc. (the clinic); Rose Fenton, R.N.C., Sandy Stephens, R.N., and Marianne Walker, R.N. (the nurses); and their employer, Arlington Memorial Hospital Foundation, Inc. (the hospital), collectively Defendants. After a five-week trial, the jury returned a verdict for Plaintiffs and against all Defendants. The trial court granted a judgment notwithstanding the verdict (JNOV) on the jury's $500,000 damage award to Donna and Robert for mental anguish and on the jury's $2,000,000 damage award to Donna and Robert for loss of consortium. Plaintiffs appeal from the JNOV. Dr. Finke, the clinic, the nurses, and the hospital appeal from the judgment against them, challenging both liability and damages. For the reasons discussed below, we will modify the trial court's judgment to delete the imposition of joint and several liability upon the nurses for the jury's award of past medical expenses to Robert and Donna Morrell individually and render judgment that Robert and Donna, individually, recover nothing from the nurses on their claim for past medical expenses because that claim is barred by the statute of limitations. We will also modify the trial court's judgment to delete the imposition of joint and several liability upon Rose Fenton, R.N.C. because the jury found her only five percent proportionally responsible. As modified, we will affirm the remainder of the trial court's judgment, including the JNOV on the Morrells' mental anguish and loss of consortium claims.
II. Factual and Procedural Background
A. Admission to Hospital
Donna's water broke in the early hours of December 31, 1994. Her husband, Robert, drove her to the hospital, where she was admitted to the labor and delivery unit at 8:45 a.m. Both sets of the baby's grandparents arrived soon thereafter. Upon Donna's arrival, the nurse on duty drew blood for laboratory analysis, attached an external fetal monitor to record the baby's heartbeat, started an intravenous line, performed a cervical examination, and prepared Donna for labor.
B. Fetal Heart Monitor Strip
Experts testified that a baby's heart rate is monitored during labor as a means of assessing the baby's oxygenation, including oxygenation of the baby's brain. A fetal heart monitor strip is read at regular and frequent intervals to determine whether the baby's heart rate reflects "hypoxia," a defiency of oxygen reaching the tissues of the body that could lead to depletion of the baby's oxygen reserves over time, resulting in brain damage.
A fetal heart monitor strip will be either "reassuring" or "nonreassuring." In fact, the hospital's "Fetal Heart Monitoring Policy (Nurses Responsibility)" provides that fetal heart " atterns will be classified as either reassuring or nonreassuring." [Emphasis added.] AONE standards as well as the hospital's fetal heart monitoring policy define "accelerations" as increases in the baby's heart beat of fifteen beats per minute lasting fifteen seconds. Following a contraction, accelerations are "reassuring" by showing that the baby is oxygenated and tolerating labor. "Beat-to-beat variability" is defined as follows by the hospital's fetal heart monitoring policy:
Short Term Variability (be
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