Holt v. Godsil
| Decision Date | 20 January 1984 |
| Parties | Bobby J. HOLT v. Dr. Raymond D. GODSIL, Jr. 82-461. |
| Court | Alabama Supreme Court |
Margaret Y. Brown, Auburn, for appellant.
W. Banks Herndon, of Walker, Hill, Adams, Umbach, Herndon & Dean, Opelika, and Charles A. Stakely, Jr. of Rushton, Stakely, Johnston & Garrett, Montgomery, for appellee.
This is a medical malpractice suit brought against an orthopedic surgeon. Bobby J. Holt appeals from a summary judgment in favor of Dr. Godsil entered because of Holt's failure to offer expert evidence of Dr. Godsil's alleged negligence.
On June 1, 1980, Holt sustained a fracture of the fifth metacarpal of his right hand and later that day received medical assistance from Dr. Godsil, who diagnosed the fracture, treated it by closed reduction, and applied a cast to the broken hand in the Lee County Hospital emergency room. During a routine office visit on June 10, 1980, Dr. Godsil examined Holt's hand, and Eddie Kelsey, a cast technician in the office, applied a new cast. Holt returned for a second office visit on June 20, 1980, and although Dr. Godsil was called to the hospital on an emergency and was unable to see Holt, Kelsey removed Holt's cast and applied a new one. According to Holt, Kelsey exerted undue pressure on the fracture while applying the cast. Holt's hand began swelling in the cast, and after experiencing much pain, Holt returned to the emergency room the following day, where Dr. Godsil's partner, Dr. Richard T. Herrick, advised Holt that his hand needed to be recast. Holt scheduled another appointment with Dr. Godsil for June 24, 1980, and on this date, Dr. Godsil was again unable to see Holt due to a hospital medical emergency. Holt refused to allow Kelsey to recast his hand and sought other medical assistance. Later, pins were inserted in the fracture to reset the bone.
On June 1, 1982, Holt and his wife Janette filed a medical malpractice action against Dr. Godsil, which alleged that Dr. Godsil, personally or through his agents or employees, negligently treated Holt, proximately resulting in permanent injury to Holt and loss of companionship to Janette. Dr. Godsil answered their complaint, denying any negligence and averring that he exercised reasonable care, diligence, and skill in treating Holt. Dr. Godsil then filed a motion for summary judgment and attached his affidavit and depositions of the Holts in support thereof. His affidavit stated that he "at all times exercised the same degree of care, skill, and diligence as orthopedic surgeons generally exercise in a similar case." Holt responded to the motion by filing a counter-affidavit. Following a hearing, the trial court granted Dr. Godsil's motion for summary judgment, holding that the Holts' failure to present expert medical testimony in...
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...a medical expert qualified to evaluate the doctor's allegedly negligent conduct."' "Allred, 598 So.2d at 1350 (quoting Holt v. Godsil, 447 So.2d 191, 192-93 (Ala. 1984) (citations omitted in 778 So.2d at 811. HealthSouth argues that because the Heaths did not present expert testimony and be......
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...the doctor's allegedly negligent conduct.'" "`Allred [v. Shirley], 598 So.2d [1347,] at 1350 [(Ala.1992)] (quoting Holt v. Godsil, 447 So.2d 191, 192-93 (Ala.1984) (citations omitted in Ex parte HealthSouth, 851 So.2d at 37 (quoting Anderson, 778 So.2d at 811). This Court rejected HealthSou......
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...to evaluate the doctor's allegedly negligent conduct.’ " Allred v. Shirley, 598 So. 2d 1347, 1350 (Ala. 1992) (quoting Holt v. Godsil, 447 So. 2d 191, 192–93 (Ala. 1984) (citations omitted in Allred )); see also Anderson v. Alabama Reference Labs., supra.In Ex parte HealthSouth Corp., 851 S......
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