Goforth v. Porter Medical Associates, Inc.
Citation | 755 P.2d 678 |
Decision Date | 31 May 1988 |
Docket Number | No. 61236,61236 |
Parties | Tillie GOFORTH and John Goforth, Appellants, v. PORTER MEDICAL ASSOCIATES, INC., a corporation, and A. Standley Porter, M.D., individually, Appellees. |
Court | Oklahoma Supreme Court |
An Appeal from the District Court of Oklahoma County; Jack R. Parr, District Judge.
Appeal from an order of the District Court of Oklahoma County sustaining a general demurrer to the petition and dismissing their action in which they allege negligence and medical malpractice in the performance of a sterilization operation on appellant Tillie Goforth. After the appellant subsequently became pregnant and gave birth to a child, this lawsuit was filed.
AFFIRMED IN PART AND REVERSED IN PART. REMANDED FOR FURTHER PROCEEDINGS.
George R. Hanks, Craig & Hanks, Moore, for appellants.
Robert C. Margo, Cynthia L. Sparling, Oklahoma City, for appellees.
This case comes to us on the pleadings alone, after the trial court sustained the appellee/defendant's general demurrer to the appellant/plaintiff's petition and by order dated December 16, 1983, dismissed the case. On review, we must, therefore, take all facts well pleaded as admitted to be true. Eckel v. Adair, Okl., 698 P.2d 921 (1984); Chastain v. Parkhurst, Okl., 473 P.2d 239 (1970). Our inquiry will be limited to discerning whether or not the plaintiff's petition alleged facts sufficient to state a cause of action.
The petition states that on August 2, 1980, the appellee performed a sterilization operation on the appellant, Tillie Goforth, and that the appellant was assured by the appellee that she was sterile. The petition further states that the appellant subsequently became pregnant and "did deliver a live child on the 9th day of October, 1981." The appellant further alleged that, as a result of the appellee's "negligence and unskilled acts" in performing an unsuccessful sterilization on Ms. Goforth, that the appellants "incurred medical bills of approximately $2,000.00" and "can reasonably expect to incur expenses for the future care of [the] child in the sum of $200,000.00."
We find it significant to note that the pleadings do not allege that the unplanned birth in this case resulted in anything other than the birth of a normal, healthy child. The parties themselves state as much in their briefs: the appellant referring only to a "live child" while the appellee states that Ms. Goforth gave birth to "a healthy baby" or "healthy, normal child." Accordingly, the trial court's finding that the appellants failed to state a cause of action for the recovery of expenses in rearing a normal, healthy child was correct, insofar as that conclusion conforms to our recent pronouncement in Morris v. Sanchez, Okl., 746 P.2d 184 (1987). In Morris, we cited with approval, and adopted the reasoning of the Kansas Supreme Court in Byrd v. Wesley Medical Center, 237 Kan. 215, 699 P.2d 459 (1985). Our holding in Morris, like that of the Byrd court, was a narrow one. As the Kansas court stated:
Byrd v....
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...v. Coats, 825 S.W.2d 295 (Mo.1992); Johnson v. University Hospitals, 44 Ohio St.3d 49, 540 N.E.2d 1370 (1989); Goforth v. Porter Med. Assoc., Inc., 755 P.2d 678 (Okla.1988); Smith v. Gore, 728 S.W.2d 738 (Tenn.1987); Harbeson v. Parke-Davis, Inc., 98 Wash.2d 460, 656 P.2d 483 (1983); Beards......
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Shull v. Reid
...of a healthy child does not constitute a legal harm for which damages are recoverable.2 The next case was Goforth v. Porter Medical Associates, Inc., 1988 OK 63, 755 P.2d 678, where again, this Court found that the birth of a normal, healthy child is not a compensable damage. However, this ......
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Wofford v. Davis, 61424
...to the question of the constitutionality of 76 O.S.1981 § 18, it is noted that the Court has held in Goforth v. Porter Medical Associates, Inc., 755 P.2d 678 (Okl.1988), that Morris, supra, does not preclude a claim "... [O]ther forms of damages that may arise out of the negligent performan......