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Walker v. Corsetti3/29/2005
REVERSED
In this medical malpractice case plaintiffs, Brenda Walker, wife of/and Ronald Walker, appeal an October 22, 2003 final judgment in favor of defendant, Ralph L. Corsetti, M.D. and a January 14, 2004 judgment denying plaintiffs' "Motion for Judgment Nothwithstanding the Verdict, or, in the Alternative, Motion for New Trial." For reasons that follow, we reverse.
Brenda Walker went to see her treating physician complaining of abdominal pains. An ultrasound was performed and it was determined that Mrs. Walker had gallstones. She was referred to Dr. Corsetti, who diagnosed her with acute and chronic cholecystitis (inflammation of the gallbladder) and recommended that she have her gallbladder removed. Mrs. Walker was scheduled to have her gallbladder removed via a surgical procedure called a laparoscopic cholecystectomy.
Surgery was performed on November 17, 1998. Mrs. Walker was discharged from the hospital but later returned with complaints of severe abdominal pain. She was readmitted and diagnostic tests revealed clips on the common bile duct, which had been placed there during her gallbladder surgery. At trial Dr. Corsetti admitted that he did clip and divide the common bile duct and the common hepatic duct. Subsequently, Dr. Corsetti, with the assistance of another general surgeon, performed a surgical procedure to repair the bile duct injury.
A medical review panel was convened in this matter and unanimously found that the evidence did not support the conclusion that the defendant failed to meet the applicable standard of care as charged in the complaint. Their reasons for so finding were: 1) ductal damage during a laparoscopic cholecystectomy is a known complication of the surgery and the complication was promptly recognized and treated appropriately; 2) the repair procedure performed by Dr. Corsetti was within the standard of care of general surgeons; and, 3) Dr. Corsetti was assisted by an experienced general surgeon, who was also qualified to repair bile duct injuries.
Plaintiffs subsequently filed a petition for damages against Dr. Corsetti alleging that he failed "to use the care and skill ordinarily employed by physicians within his specialty in that had defendant used the same care, skill, and diligence as other physicians with the same specialty, then defendant would have properly treated Brenda Walker without causing her injuries." Plaintiffs also asserted their claims of negligence, unskillfulness, and improper medical care and treatment by defendant under the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur.
The matter proceeded to trial and the jury returned a verdict in favor of defendant finding that he did not breach the standard of care for general surgeons in his treatment of Brenda Walker. On its own motion, the court made the verdict of the jury the judgment of the court. The court denied plaintiffs' "Motion for Judgment Notwithstanding the Verdict, or, in the Alternative, Motion for New Trial." Plaintiffs appealed.
In brief to this Court plaintiffs argue that the jury's finding that defendant met the standard of care for general surgeons is contrary to evidence and law. Plaintiffs contend that the jury made its findings of fact based on defendant's efforts to correct his negligent injuries to Mrs. Walker's common hepatic duct, common bile duct, and hepatic artery. Therefore, plaintiffs reason that the jury's focus on the curative measures and genuine remorse displayed by defendant on the witness stand distracted them from their duty to assign negligence.
La. R.S. 9:2794 provides, in pertinent part:
A. In a malpractice action based on the negligence of a physician licensed under R.S.
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