Dodd v. Sparks Regional Medical Center

• Court: Arkansas Court of Appeals
• Writing for the Court: Terry Crabtree
• Citation: Dodd v. Sparks Regional Medical Center, 204 S.W.3d 579, 90 Ark.App. 191 (Ark. App. 2005)
• Decision Date: 02 March 2005
• Docket Number: No. CA 04-729.,CA 04-729.
• Parties: James G. DODD, Jr., Administrator of the Estate of Stacy Lynn Dodd, Deceased, Appellant v. SPARKS REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER, Holt-Krock Clinic PLC, Dr. Joe Dorzab, and Dr. Sally Goforth, Appellees.

204 S.W.3d 579

James G. DODD, Jr., Administrator of the Estate of Stacy Lynn Dodd, Deceased, Appellant v. SPARKS REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER, Holt-Krock Clinic PLC, Dr. Joe Dorzab, and Dr. Sally Goforth, Appellees.

No. CA 04-729.

Court of Appeals of Arkansas, Division IV.

March 2, 2005.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Law Offices of Charles Carr, P.A., by: Charles Carr and Shane Roughley, Fort Smith, for appellant.

Warner, Smith & Harris, PLC, by: G. Alan Wooten, and Matthew C. Carter, Fort Smith, for appellee.

TERRY CRABTREE, Judge.

Appellant James G. Dodd, Jr., the husband of Stacy Lynn Dodd and administrator of her estate, filed this suit in his capacity as administrator for her wrongful death, which was occasioned by suicide. The complaint lodged claims against appellees Dr. Joe Dorzab, Dr. Sally Goforth, and their employer, Holt-Krock Clinic, and Sparks Regional Medical Center (Sparks) where Ms. Dodd was hospitalized when she took her life. Appellant contends on appeal that the trial court erred in concluding that expert testimony was necessary and in finding that the testimony he offered to support the complaint was insufficient as a matter of law. We find no error and affirm the grant of summary judgment.¹

The undisputed facts of this case reveal that Ms. Dodd, age twenty-three, had been admitted by Dr. Dorzab, a psychiatrist, to Sparks on September 30, 1995, because of suicidal ideation. She was readmitted to Sparks on November 6 after taking an overdose of sleeping pills. She was later admitted to another psychiatric hospital on November 22 by a different physician, who diagnosed major depression with psychosis. She was readmitted to that hospital on December 8 due to suicidal ideation. On each of these occasions, Ms. Dodd left the hospital against medical advice.

On December 12, Ms. Dodd was again admitted to Sparks by Dr. Dorzab for major depression. During this admission, she came under the care of Dr. Sally Goforth, a clinical psychologist. On December 20, Dr. Dorzab requested that appellant initiate involuntary commitment proceedings. Appellant complied with that request, and on December 22 the Probate Court of Crawford County entered a forty-five-day commitment order. In this order it was found that Ms. Dodd was a clear and present danger to herself based on a medical report provided by Dr. Dorzab that described her as being suicidal. Early on the morning of December 27, Ms. Dodd hanged herself in her room with a bed sheet tied to a doorstop located at the top of the door leading to her private bathroom. At the time of her death, she was being housed in the intermediate psychiatric unit at Sparks.

In the wrongful-death complaint filed on January 20, 2002,² it was alleged that Dr Dorzab violated the standard of care and was negligent by: (1) failing to make a proper diagnosis; (2) failing to adequately assess the deceased's suicide risk; (3) failing to manage the deceased's suicide risk; (4) failing to prescribe proper medications in appropriate doses; (5) failing to adequately communicate with the hospital staff; (6) failing to provide adequate treatment and care during the Christmas holidays; (7) failing to order proper suicide precautions, including fifteen-minute checks; and (8) failing to use ordinary care for the safety of the deceased.

It was alleged that Dr. Goforth violated the standard of care and was negligent by: (1) failing to assess the deceased's suicide risk; (2) failing to manage the deceased's suicide risk; (3) failing to adequately communicate with Dr. Dorzab and the hospital staff about the deceased's suicide risk; (4) failing to provide adequate counseling for the deceased during her absence for the Christmas holidays; and (5) failing to use ordinary care for the safety of the deceased. The allegations against Sparks included a claim that it was negligent by failing to remove the doorstop from the top of the door in the room in the psychiatric unit.

Appellees ultimately filed motions for summary judgment. Cumulatively, appellees asserted that the allegations in the complaint concerning the diagnosis, treatment, and care of Ms. Dodd stated claims for medical negligence which required the support of expert testimony. They contended that they were entitled to judgment as a matter of law because appellant had failed to produce any expert testimony. In response, appellant offered the affidavits of Dr. Norman F. Westermann and registered-nurse Mary Ann Spencer. In addition, appellant presented the deposition testimony of registered-nurse Nadine Killion and Harold Trisler, who was the director of nursing in charge of the psychiatric unit at the time of Ms. Dodd's death. Appellant also contended that the allegation against Sparks concerning the placement of the doorstop presented a claim for ordinary negligence for which expert testimony was not required. Appellees responded that the witnesses appellant offered did not qualify as experts, that there was no testimony setting forth the applicable standard of care, and that appellant had failed to establish that the failure to remove the doorstop was the proximate cause of Ms. Dodd's death.

After a hearing, the trial court granted the motions for summary judgment. The court ruled that the complaint alleged a cause of action for medical negligence, and that the affidavit of Dr. Westermann was "insufficient as a matter of law to create a question of fact for the jury as to the standard of care of a psychiatrist, psychologist, or the operation of a psychiatric unit by a hospital based upon the education, training, and experience of Dr. Westermann as established in his Affidavit." On this basis, the trial court dismissed the claims presented against Dr. Dorzab, Dr. Goforth, and Holt-Krock Clinic. The court further ruled that the affidavit of nurse Spencer did not speak to the issue of proximate cause and that, therefore, Sparks was also entitled to judgment as a matter of law.

On appeal, we need only decide if the granting of summary judgment was appropriate based on whether the evidence presented left a material question of fact unanswered. Robson v. Tinnin, 322 Ark. 605, 911 S.W.2d 246 (1995). The burden of proving that there is no genuine issue of material fact is upon the movant, and all proof submitted must be viewed favorably to the party resisting the motion. Watts v. St. Edward Mercy Medical Center, 74 Ark.App. 406, 49 S.W.3d 149 (2001). Once the moving party makes a prima facie showing of entitlement to summary judgment, the opposing party must meet proof with proof that a genuine issue of material fact exists. Robson v. Tinnin, supra.

The issues in this case turn on the requirements of the Arkansas Medical Malpractice Act found at Arkansas Code Annotated sections 16-114-201 through 209 (1987). The Act provides that it applies to all causes of action for medical injury. Ark.Code Ann. § 16-114-202. That term is defined in Arkansas Code Annotated section 16-114-201 as:

"Medical injury" or "injury" means any adverse consequences arising out of or sustained in the course of the professional services being rendered by a medical care provider, whether resulting from negligence, error, or omission in the performance of such services; or from rendition of such services without informed consent or in breach of warranty or in violation of contract; or from the failure to diagnose; or from premature abandonment of a patient or of a course of treatment; or from failure to properly maintain equipment or appliances necessary to the rendition of such services; or otherwise arising out of or sustained in the course of such services.

The supreme court has acknowledged the broad scope of this definition. Dodson v. Charter Behavioral Health System of Northwest Ark., Inc., 335 Ark. 96, 983 S.W.2d 98 (1998).

In actions for medical injury, the plaintiff has the burden of proving three propositions by expert testimony: the applicable standard of care; that the medical provider failed to act in accordance with that standard; and that such failure was the proximate cause of the plaintiff's injuries. Ark.Code Ann. 16-114-206(a); Williamson v. Elrod, 348 Ark. 307, 72 S.W.3d 489 (2002). Our courts have held, however, that expert testimony is not per se necessary in every malpractice case. Watts v. St. Edward Mercy Medical Center, supra. It is well settled that a plaintiff must present expert testimony only when the asserted negligence does not lie within the jury's comprehension as a matter of common knowledge, when the applicable standard of care is not a matter of common knowledge, and when the jury must have the assistance of experts to decide the issue of negligence. Haase v. Starnes, 323 Ark. 263, 915 S.W.2d 675 (1996). The court emphasized this point in Haase v. Starnes by observing:

The necessity for the introduction of expert medical testimony in malpractice cases was exhaustively considered in Lanier v. Trammell, 207 Ark. 372, 180 S.W.2d 818 (1944). There we held that expert testimony is not required when the asserted negligence lies within the comprehension of a jury of laymen, such as a surgeon's failure to sterilize his instruments or to remove a sponge from the incision before closing it. On the other hand, when the applicable standard of care is not a matter of common knowledge the jury must have the assistance of expert witnesses in coming to a conclusion upon the issue of negligence.

Id. at 268, 915 S.W.2d at 678 (quoting Davis v. Kemp, 252 Ark. 925, 481 S.W.2d 712 (1972)).

First, we quickly dispose of appellant's contention that the trial court erred in ruling that the claims against Dr. Gorzab, Dr. Goforth, and Holt-Krock Clinic stated a cause of action for medical negligence. The claims against these medical providers involved the failure to properly diagnose, assess, and manage Ms. Dodd's care and treatment. Clearly, such claims fall within the purview of the Medical Malpractice Act. Dodson v. Charter Behavioral Health...