Lynch v. Bryant, s. 91-5667
| Decision Date | 28 January 1993 |
| Docket Number | 91-5683 and 91-6054,Nos. 91-5667,s. 91-5667 |
| Citation | 985 F.2d 560 |
| Parties | NOTICE: Sixth Circuit Rule 24(c) states that citation of unpublished dispositions is disfavored except for establishing res judicata, estoppel, or the law of the case and requires service of copies of cited unpublished dispositions of the Sixth Circuit. Carol LYNCH, individually and as surviving spouse of Norman Lynch, Plaintiff-Appellant and Cross-Appellee, v. Joe F. BRYANT, Defendant-Appellee and Cross-Appellant, and Humana of Tennessee, Inc., d/b/a Humana McFarland Hospital; Humana, Inc., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit |
Before KEITH, KENNEDY and NATHANIEL R. JONES, Circuit Judges.
Carol Lynch brought this wrongful death, negligence, and abandonment action individually and as the surviving spouse of Norman Lynch, against Dr. Joe F. Bryant and Humana of Tennessee, Inc., d/b/a Humana McFarland Hospital, and Humana, Inc. (the parent corporation of Humana of Tennessee, Inc.) (hereinafter collectively referred to as "Defendants"). A jury returned a verdict generally in Lynch's favor. 1 Dr. Bryant filed various post-trial motions, including a motion for a remittitur and for judgment notwithstanding the verdict. It took approximately six years, but the district court granted Dr. Bryant partial relief. Both parties appealed. We affirm the decision of the district court.
At about 4:30 p.m. on June 28, 1983, Carol and Norman Lynch, and their daughter Stella, were injured in a traffic accident. They were transported by ambulance to the Humana McFarland Hospital in Lebanon, Tennessee. Dr. Bryant was the general surgeon on call. He made an initial assessment of Norman, and had him taken to the X-ray room because of an obvious injury to his leg. The X rays revealed a broken leg. Dr. Bryant told Mr. Lynch that he was a general surgeon, and that the injury would require definitive, or long-term care by an orthopedic surgeon. Dr. Bryant provided initial treatment in the form of a posterior splint and medication. Thereupon, Mr. Lynch was admitted to the hospital with written instructions concerning his leg. Since the orthopedic specialist on call at the hospital refused to treat Mr. Lynch, Dr. Bryant attempted to arrange the transfer of Mr. Lynch to the orthopedic staff at three hospitals in Nashville, Tennessee, but was unsuccessful.
Mrs. Lynch was also admitted to the hospital due to various cuts, bruises and sprains sustained in the accident. Medication was prescribed for her as well. Stella was released.
At 1:30 a.m. on June 29, Dr. Bryant was notified that Mrs. Lynch was in need of pain medication. Dr. Bryant ordered that the necessary drugs be given.
During his morning rounds on June 29, Dr. Bryant examined Mr. and Mrs. Lynch. Mr. Lynch's brother, Harrell, and his brother's wife, Mary Lou, arrived early that morning. Dr. Bryant discussed with Norman and Harrell Lynch transferring Norman Lynch to a Virginia hospital for definitive treatment by an orthopedic specialist. Dr. Bryant determined that Mr. and Mrs. Lynch could travel. Thereupon, Dr. Bryant prepared a transfer order and discharge summary outlining the treatment Mr. Lynch had received, and provided for the administration of pain medication during transfer.
Mr. and Mrs. Lynch were technically discharged at 11:00 a.m. on June 29, before they had completed arrangements for their transfer. Dr. Bryant attributed this to an administrative foul-up.
At any rate, Dr. Bryant was called in to see Mr. Lynch at about 3:00 p.m. on June 29. A hospital administrator sought a second opinion regarding Mr. Lynch's ability to travel. Dr. Bryant ordered further X rays of Mr. Lynch's leg. A second opinion, by Dr. Sam McFarland, confirmed Dr. Bryant's opinion that Mr. Lynch was able to travel.
Dr. Bryant checked on Mr. Lynch and allegedly checked on Mrs. Lynch once again at about 8:30 p.m. on June 29, during his customary evening rounds. Mr. and Mrs. Lynch had chosen to spend the night at the hospital.
On the morning of June 30, Dr. Bryant again examined Mr. Lynch, and he allegedly examined Mrs. Lynch.
Later that day, Dr. Bryant was informed that Dr. Charles W. Miller, an orthopedic surgeon in Charlottesville, Virginia, had agreed to provide Mr. Lynch with definitive care. Dr. Bryant met with Mr. Lynch and informed him that Dr. Miller was anticipating Mr. Lynch's arrival in Virginia.
At about 6:00 p.m. on June 30, Mr. and Mrs. Lynch, as well as Stella, were flown to Virginia. Mr. and Mrs. Lynch were admitted to the Martha Jefferson Hospital. Dr. Miller saw them, for the first time, the next morning at about 8:00 a.m. Mrs. Lynch was discharged on July 2, 1983. Norman Lynch suffered a pulmonary embolism and died on July 4, 1983.
On January 18, 1984, Mrs. Lynch filed a diversity suit in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee. Individually, Mrs. Lynch sought compensatory and punitive damages for her pain and suffering allegedly due to the treatment of Dr. Bryant, and she sought compensatory and punitive damages because he allegedly abandoned her while she was in medical need. As the representative of her late husband, she sought compensatory and punitive damages for her husband's unnecessary pain and suffering that allegedly resulted from Dr. Bryant's treatment, and she sought compensatory and punitive damages because of Dr. Bryant's alleged abandonment of her husband. Finally, she sought damages from the Defendants for the wrongful death of her husband. She contended that the Defendants' care was negligent and grossly negligent, and constituted abandonment.
The trial lasted approximately two weeks. The jury first returned a liability verdict in favor of Mrs. Lynch, individually, 2 finding with regard to the pain and suffering claim that Dr. Bryant's treatment was negligent and grossly negligent and, regarding her abandonment claim, that Dr. Bryant had abandoned her and was grossly negligent in so doing. Concerning Mrs. Lynch's claims as representative of Mr. Lynch, the jury decided that Dr. Bryant's treatment of Mr. Lynch was negligent in that it did result in unnecessary pain and suffering but that the treatment was not grossly negligent. Furthermore, the jury decided that Dr. Bryant did abandon Mr. Lynch and that he was grossly negligent in this respect. Finally, regarding the wrongful death claim, the jury decided that Dr. Bryant's negligent treatment of Mr. Lynch was not the proximate cause of his death.
After the jury returned its verdict regarding liability, but before it deliberated with respect to damages, Mrs. Lynch settled with Humana of Tennessee, Inc. The parties agreed that the settlement was to be allocated toward compensatory and punitive damages, but no specific apportionment was delineated in the agreement between Mrs. Lynch's individual claims and her claims as surviving spouse.
Before the jury deliberated with respect to damages, the trial court informed the jury that Mrs. Lynch had settled with the hospital. The court allowed evidence of Dr. Bryant's financial condition to be admitted and instructed the jury to determine damages. The jury awarded Mrs. Lynch, individually, $25,000 in compensatory damages and $100,000 in punitive damages; and for her claims as Mr. Lynch's representative, the jury awarded her $75,000 in compensatory damages and $300,000 in punitive damages.
Dr. Bryant then filed numerous post-trial motions, including a motion to alter or amend the judgment, a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict, and a motion for a new trial or, in the alternative, a remittitur.
On April 26, 1991, the trial court concluded that there was no evidence from which a reasonable jury could determine that Dr. Bryant's treatment of Mr. Lynch constituted an abandonment or gross negligence. Thus, it partially granted Dr. Bryant's motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict with respect to Mrs. Lynch's claims as surviving spouse and accordingly eliminated the jury's award of punitive damages pertaining to these claims. The trial court also noted that the original jury award of compensatory damages to Mrs. Lynch as surviving spouse was intended to compensate for the negligent treatment that resulted in pain and suffering as well as abandonment. Since the court had set aside the abandonment portion of the verdict, it partially granted Dr. Bryant's motion for remittitur by reducing the compensatory damages award for the representative claims from $75,000 to $50,000.
The trial court refused to set aside the compensatory and punitive damages awarded Mrs. Lynch in her individual capacity. Neither would it grant Dr. Bryant's request for remittitur regarding those claims. The court concluded that the evidence supported the jury's verdict that Dr. Bryant's negligent treatment of Mrs. Lynch resulted in unnecessary pain and suffering and constituted abandonment, and it concluded that the evidence pointed to gross negligence in both respects. Both parties appealed to this court.
On August 21, 1991, the trial court also granted Dr. Bryant's motion to alter or amend the judgment, and it ordered that the jury's award to Mrs. Lynch, for all of her claims, be reduced by the amount that she received in her settlement with the hospital. Mrs. Lynch also appealed this order, and it was consolidated with the other appeals already before this court.
The first issue that we must address is whether the district court properly granted Dr. Bryant's motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict with regard to Mrs. Lynch's claims, as Mr. Lynch's representative, for abandonment and gross negligence. In diversity cases, this circuit adheres to the minority rule that state law governs the standard for granting motions for directed verdicts and judgments notwithstanding the verdict. J.C. Wyckoff & Assocs. v. Standard Fire Ins. Co., 936 F.2d 1474, 1482 (6th...
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