Ghostanyans v. Goodwin
| Decision Date | 26 March 2021 |
| Docket Number | 1-19-2125 |
| Parties | Christine GHOSTANYANS and Tadeh Ghostanyans, Individually and as Parents and Next Friends of Landon Ghostanyans, a Minor, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. Pamela GOODWIN, M.D. and Northshore Associates in Gynecology & Obstetrics, S.C., Defendants-Appellees. |
| Court | United States Appellate Court of Illinois |
Thomas G. Siracusa, of Power, Rogers & Smith, LLP, of Chicago, for appellants.
Karen Kies DeGrand and Laura Coffey Ieremia, of Donohue Brown Mathewson & Smyth LLC, and Mark J. Smith and Samantha N. LaFata, of Smith Blake Hill LLC, both of Chicago, for appellees.
¶ 1 Plaintiffs Christine Ghostanyans and Tadeh Ghostanyans, individually and as parents and next friends of Landon Ghostanyans, a minor, appeal a judgment following a jury trial for defendants Pamela Goodwin, M.D., and Northshore Associates in Gynecology & Obstetrics, S.C. (Associates). On appeal, plaintiffs contend that (1) the court erred in instructing the jury, and approving a special interrogatory, on sole proximate cause, (2) the court erred by allowing cross-examination of plaintiffs’ expert to elicit his opinions regarding negligence of a codefendant who had settled, and (3) the jury's verdict was against the manifest weight of the evidence. For the reasons stated below, we affirm.
¶ 3 Plaintiffs brought this civil action against defendants, including Goodwin and Associates, and went to trial against only Goodwin and Associates after the other defendants were dismissed pursuant to a settlement. On May 9, 2019, following trial, the jury issued verdicts in favor of Goodwin and Associates, and the court entered judgment on the verdicts. On June 5, 2019, the court granted plaintiffs until June 14 to file their posttrial motion, which plaintiffs did on that day. The court denied the posttrial motion on September 19, 2019, and plaintiffs filed their notice of appeal on October 16, 2019. Accordingly, we have jurisdiction over this cause, pursuant to article VI, section 6, of the Illinois Constitution ( Ill. Const. 1970, art. VI, § 6 ) and Illinois Supreme Court Rule 301 (eff. Feb. 1, 1994) and Rule 303 (eff. July 1, 2017).
¶ 5 This is a medical malpractice case regarding the August 24, 2012, birth of Landon Ghostanyans to plaintiffs, delivered by physicians, including Goodwin and Loren Hutter, M.D., at a hospital of Northshore University Health System (System). Goodwin was an employee of Associates, and Hutter was an agent or employee of System. During Landon's birth, Goodwin diagnosed a shoulder dystocia
, which occurs when a fetus's shoulder gets blocked by or caught upon the mother's pubic bone during birth. Before trial, it was undisputed that downward traction was applied in an attempt to relieve the shoulder dystocia, but the parties disputed whether Goodwin, Hutter, or someone else did so and whether any of Goodwin's acts or omissions proximately caused any injuries to Landon. Shortly before trial, Hutter and System were dismissed as defendants pursuant to a settlement. At trial, the jury found for Goodwin and Associates and found by special interrogatory that the conduct of some person other than Goodwin was the sole proximate cause of Landon's injury. This appeal followed the denial of plaintiffs’ posttrial motion.
¶ 7 The original complaint in September 2015 named Goodwin, Associates, and System as defendants and named respondents in discovery, including Hutter. Plaintiffs alleged that plaintiff Christine was a patient of Goodwin on and before August 24, 2012, and received prenatal care from Goodwin and Associates. On August 23, Christine was admitted to System's hospital as she was in labor, and Goodwin monitored her labor that day into the next. Goodwin "identified a turtle sign at the time of delivery of the fetal head" and "diagnosed a shoulder dystocia
."1 Thus, on "August 24, 2012, after the diagnosis of shoulder dystocia, downward traction was applied in an attempt to relieve the shoulder dystocia," and Landon's delivery took about four minutes. Landon suffered an avulsion of his C8 nerve root, brachial plexus palsy, injury to his phrenic nerve, and diaphragmatic palsy at the time of his delivery. Goodwin was allegedly an agent or employee of Associates and System, acting within the scope thereof, on August 24, 2012. Defendants were allegedly negligent for These negligent acts or omissions were allegedly the proximate cause of Landon's injuries, pain and suffering, disfigurement, disability, and loss of a normal life, causing him to incur ongoing medical expenses and limiting his capacity to earn a living. In both counts, plaintiffs, as parents and next friends of Landon, sought more than $50,000 from defendants. Count I raised the aforesaid allegations, and count II additionally alleged that plaintiffs had incurred and would incur medical expenses for Landon proximately caused by defendants’ negligence.
¶ 8 Attached to the complaint was the affidavit of plaintiffs’ counsel that he consulted a board-certified obstetrician-gynecologist, who reviewed the relevant medical records and reached the opinion that Goodwin "deviated from the accepted standards of care of a reasonably careful physician in her treatment of" Landon. Attached to the affidavit was a report by a physician board-certified in obstetrics and gynecology that he reviewed medical records of Christine and Landon and formed the opinion to a reasonable degree of medical certainty that Goodwin "was professionally negligent and deviated from the standard of care expected of a reasonably careful obstetrician during the delivery of Landon." The report stated that "[a] shoulder dystocia
occurred at the time of Landon's delivery," which Goodwin recognized, and "certain maneuvers were initiated in attempts to dislodge the impacted shoulder," as well as "use of downward traction as an attempt to complete the delivery." However, "application of traction by a physician in the presence of a shoulder dystocia is a deviation from the standard of care." Landon was later "diagnosed with brachial plexus palsy as a result of an avulsion of his C8 nerve root" and underwent nerve transfer surgery. The physician opined that the "condition of Landon's arm at delivery was consistent with injuries caused by physician-applied traction," with "no medically reasonable explanation for the extent of injuries other than the use of excessive downward traction by the physician during delivery," so that Goodwin's professional negligence caused Landon's brachial plexus palsy.
¶ 9 In November 2015, Goodwin and Associates appeared, as did System separately. In May 2016, each defendant filed an answer. They acknowledged that Christine was in labor and was admitted on August 23, 2012, to System's hospital, where Goodwin and Associates provided her prenatal care. They admitted that Goodwin monitored her labor that day into the next, "identified a turtle sign at the time of delivery of the fetal head," and "diagnosed a shoulder dystocia
." They admitted that, on "August 24, 2012, after the diagnosis of shoulder dystocia, downward traction was applied in an attempt to relieve the shoulder dystocia," but Goodwin and Associates denied that Goodwin applied downward traction. Goodwin and Associates admitted that Goodwin was an employee of Associates, while Goodwin and System denied that Goodwin was an agent or employee of System. Each defendant demanded strict proof of Landon's physical injuries and denied negligence, proximate causation, and damages.
¶ 10 Following some discovery, plaintiffs filed an amended complaint in March 2017, adding respondent Hutter as a defendant. Counts I and II were substantially identical to the initial complaint except for alleging that Goodwin "applied downward traction on [Landon's] head and neck" instead of the initial complaint's "downward traction was applied in an attempt to relieve the shoulder dystocia
." Counts III and IV alleged that Hutter was a physician specializing in obstetrics and gynecology acting as an "on call" physician at System's hospital, who attended Landon's delivery on August 24, 2012, in that capacity. The counts alleged that "after the diagnosis of shoulder dystocia, [Hutter] applied downward traction to [Landon's] head and neck" and delivered Landon. Hutter was allegedly an agent or employee of System, acting in the scope thereof, on August 24, 2012. Hutter and System were allegedly negligent in with substantially the same allegations of Landon's physical injuries, proximate causation, and damages as counts I and II.
¶ 11 Attached to the amended complaint was the affidavit of plaintiffs’ counsel that he consulted a board-certified obstetrician-gynecologist who reviewed the relevant medical records and reached an opinion that Goodwin and Hutter "deviated from the accepted standards of care of reasonably careful physicians in their treatment of" Christine and Landon. Attached to the affidavit were two reports by a physician, board-certified in obstetrics and gynecology, that he or she reviewed various medical records of Christine and Landon and read Goodwin's deposition. He or she formed opinions to a reasonable degree of medical certainty that Goodwin and Hutter each "was professionally negligent and deviated from the standard of care expected of a reasonably careful obstetrician" during Landon's delivery. A shoulder dystocia
occurred during delivery, which Goodwin recognized and of which Hutter was aware. The report for Goodwin stated that "certain maneuvers were...
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