Hoover v. Gaston Memorial Hospital, Inc.
| Decision Date | 28 April 1971 |
| Docket Number | No. 7127SC47,7127SC47 |
| Parties | John Dewayne HOOVER v. GASTON MEMORIAL HOSPITAL, INC. and Dr. George R. Miller. |
| Court | North Carolina Court of Appeals |
Smathers & Ferrell by James C. Smathers, Hickory, for plaintiff appellant.
Hollowell, Stott & Hollowell by Grady B. Stott, Gastonia, for Dr. George R. Miller.
Jonas & Jonas by Harvey A. Jonas, Jr., Lincolnton, for Gaston Memorial Hospital, Inc.
Plaintiff assigns as error the granting of defendants' motions for summary judgment. Summary judgment is appropriate if 'the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that any party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.' G.S. § 1A--1, Rule 56(c).
Plaintiff alleges that he was injured due to the negligence of defendants or their agents, yet he states in his complaint that he does not know who caused the injury, how it happened, or when it happened, except that he alleges that it occurred while unconscious due to the anesthetic administered him. The depositions of Dr. Miller and those who assisted him in the operation failed to further clarify plaintiff's allegations of negligence. The depositions disclosed that none of the deponents had any knowledge of any occurrence that could have caused the injury complained of; nor did any of the deponents even know that an injury had occurred until sometime after the operation.
In the deposition of Dr. Miller, he stated:
'* * * It is correct to say that I know of nothing that occurred at the July 14th admission or during the operation or during the recovery room after the operation which produced or could have produced any injury to the ulna nerve in the left arm.'
In December 1968 the plaintiff was again admitted and Dr. Miller testified:
'* * * I diagnosed his condition in my history and physical examination of December 8th admission as neuropathy of the ulna nerve on the left. The word neuropathy is a general term denoting functional disturbances and changes, and, or pathological changes in the peripherical (sic) nervous system. The etiology is not necessarily from a traumatic injury. It could be an etiological factor. Ischemic neuropathy and arsenical neuropathy could be a cause. Diabetes could also be a cause.
When I operated on the ulna nerve on his admission of December 8, 1968, I found that the nerve was irritable and that it was imbedded in scar tissue. I removed it from the tissue in which it was imbedded. We are talking about the funny bone nerve. There is a sheath around the nerve. We transferred the sheath with the nerve, but took it out of the tight tissue in which it was lying. We did find that it was imbedded in scar tissue. The words adhesions and scar tissue are used pretty much synonomously but there are certain differences, I suppose, technically. I describe this as scar tissue. I did this, so to speak, advisedly, because that's what it looked like, as contra-distinguished from adhesions. When I think of an adhesion, I think more of a narrower band rather than a more extensive covering.
I suppose many things can cause scar tissue. One of the causes could be that...
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...left child who had swallowed a dozen aspirin unattended for eleven hours; expert testimony not required); cf. Hoover v. Hospital Inc., 11 N.C.App. 119, 180 S.E.2d 479 (1971) (patient suffered nerve damage following surgery; absence of expert testimony establishing that such injury rarely oc......
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Schmidt v. St. Joseph's Hosp.
...74 N.M. 423, 394 P.2d 269 (1964); Tapia v. McKenzie; Holmes v. Gamble, 655 P.2d 405 (Colo.1982); Hoover v. Gaston Memorial Hospital, Inc., 11 N.C.App. 119, 180 S.E.2d 479 (1971) (summary judgment upheld where plaintiff who suffered injury to ulnar nerve in left arm after surgery for broken ......
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Parks v. Perry
...of respondeat superior is also a genuine issue of fact to be decided by the jury. The defendant contend that Hoover v. Hospital, Inc., 11 N.C.App. 119, 180 S.E.2d 479 (1971), a case denying recovery to a plaintiff who also suffered nerve damage in his arm while unconscious from anesthesia d......
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Deberry v. Kellogg Sales Company, No. COA08-498 (N.C. App. 12/2/2008)
...to rebut the moving party's showing that plaintiff failed to prove an element of his claim. Draughon, supra. In Hoover v. Hospital, Inc., 11 N.C. App. 119, 180 S.E.2d 479 (1971), a patient sued a surgeon and the hospital for an injury to his left arm. The patient alleged the injury occurred......