McDonald v. Memorial Hosp. at Gulfport
| Decision Date | 30 April 2009 |
| Docket Number | No. 2007-CA-02169-SCT.,No. 2007-CA-01743-SCT.,2007-CA-01743-SCT.,2007-CA-02169-SCT. |
| Citation | 8 So.3d 175 |
| Parties | Naomi Ruth McDONALD and Janella Lavette McDonald v. MEMORIAL HOSPITAL AT GULFPORT and Dr. Juan Carlos Teran-Benitez. Naomi Ruth McDonald and Janella Lavette McDonald v. Memorial Hospital at Gulfport and Dr. Juan Carlos Teran-Benitez. |
| Court | Mississippi Supreme Court |
F. Gerald Maples, Attorney for Appellants.
Shellye Vines McDonald, Gulfport, William E. Whitfield, III, Kimberly S. Rosetti, Biloxi, Attorneys for Appellees.
Before CARLSON, P.J., LAMAR and CHANDLER, JJ.
¶ 1. Naomi Ruth McDonald filed this wrongful-death/medical-malpractice action against several medical providers arising out of the treatment and care of her husband, Janella Lavette McDonald. Defendant Memorial Hospital at Gulfport filed a Motion to Dismiss or in the Alternative Motion for Summary Judgment, asserting that McDonald's claims were time-barred under the Mississippi Tort Claims Act. Defendants Dr. Juan C. Teran-Benitez and Gastroenterology Center, P.A., filed a Motion to Strike Expert Witnesses of Plaintiff and for Summary Judgment. The Circuit Court for the First Judicial District of Harrison County ultimately granted both motions, thus dismissing these defendants from the suit. Aggrieved, McDonald appealed both final judgments, properly certified pursuant to Mississippi Rule of Civil Procedure 54(b), and this Court consolidated the appeals. Finding no error, we affirm.
¶ 2. On March 7, 2003, Janella Lavette McDonald (Mr. McDonald) was admitted to Memorial Hospital at Gulfport (MHG) by Dr. David LaRosa for treatment of pneumonia. Dr. Frederick Pakron was consulted, and on March 14, 2003, Mr. McDonald was discharged from MHG, and Dr. Pakron took over Mr. McDonald's care, admitting him to Select Specialty Hospital (SSH). SSH is a long-term, acute-care hospital located on the fifth floor of MHG.
¶ 3. On March 24, 2003, while still a patient at SSH, Mr. McDonald experienced nausea and vomiting of brown material or blood, and Dr. Juan C. Teran-Benitez (Dr. Teran-Benitez) was consulted. Dr. Teran-Benitez ordered an endoscopic procedure, and Mr. McDonald was sent to the endoscopy suite at MHG, where Dr. Teran-Benitez attempted to perform an esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD). Foreign or coffee-ground-appearing material was encountered upon insertion of the scope. Due to Mr. McDonald's Do-Not-Resuscitate (DNR) status as noted on his chart, Dr. Teran-Benitez and members of the lab staff consulted Mr. McDonald's wife, Naomi Ruth McDonald, regarding the insertion of an endotracheal tube to protect Mr. McDonald's airway. Mrs. McDonald refused, and Mr. McDonald expired in the endoscopy lab on March 24, 2003.
¶ 4. Naomi Ruth McDonald (McDonald), as widow of Janella Lavette McDonald, deceased, and as personal representative of statutory heirs, originally filed this wrongful-death and medical-malpractice action on June 9, 2004. Subsequent amended complaints also were filed, and in the end, several medical providers were named as defendants. McDonald gave previous notice of her claim to MHG on March 22, 2004, pursuant to the Mississippi Tort Claims Act, more specifically, Mississippi Code Annotated Section 11-46-11(1) (Rev.2002).
¶ 5. On July 25, 2005, McDonald designated as experts Dr. Rodrigo Galvez, Dr. George Nichols, and Judith Kidd, a registered nurse. On December 9, 2005, Dr. Teran-Benitez and Gastroenterology Center, P.A., filed their Motion to Strike Expert Witnesses of Plaintiff and for Summary Judgment, asserting that Dr. Galvez and Dr. Nichols were not qualified to offer opinions regarding the standard of care for a gastroenterologist. Also on December 9, 2005, MHG filed its Motion to Dismiss or in the Alternative Motion for Summary Judgment, stating that McDonald did not substantially comply with Mississippi Code Section 11-46-11(3). The Circuit Court for the First Judicial District of Harrison County, Judge Stephen B. Simpson presiding, conducted a hearing on the aforementioned motions. The trial court subsequently granted summary judgment in favor of Dr. Teran-Benitez and Gastroenterology Center, P.A., and MHG, and entered final judgments consistent with the grant of summary judgment.
¶ 6. More specifically, as to Dr. Teran-Benitez and Gastroenterology Center, P.A., Judge Simpson entered a judgment of dismissal which stated, inter alia, that the judgment was entered pursuant to the provisions of Mississippi Rule of Civil Procedure 54(a), and that, pursuant to the provisions of Mississippi Rule of Civil Procedure 54(b), the final judgment should be entered as to Dr. Teran-Benitez and Gastroenterology Center, P.A., "as there is no just reason for delay." As to MHG, Judge Simpson entered a judgment of dismissal which stated, inter alia, that MHG's "[m]otion to [d]ismiss or in the alternative for [s]ummary [j]udgment is granted and final judgment is hereby entered, as there is no just reason for delay."
¶ 7. From these final judgments entered in favor of Dr. Teran-Benitez, Gastroenterology Center, P.A., and MHG, and properly certified pursuant to Mississippi Rule of Civil Procedure 54(b), McDonald appealed to us asserting two issues: (1) whether the trial court erred in dismissing the plaintiffs' claims against MHG based on the one-year statute of limitations set forth in Mississippi Code Section 11-46-11(3); and (2) whether the trial court erred in ruling the plaintiffs' expert witnesses were not qualified to testify regarding the standard of care applicable to Dr. Teran-Benitez, and in consequently granting the motion for summary judgment, entering a judgment of dismissal in favor of Dr. Teran-Benitez and Gastroenterology Center, P.A.
¶ 8. This Court's well-established standard of review in reviewing a trial court's grant or denial of summary judgment is de novo. One South, Inc. v. Hollowell, 963 So.2d 1156, 1160 (Miss.2007) (citing Hubbard v. Wansley, 954 So.2d 951, 956 (Miss.2007)). Summary judgment is appropriate where "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 the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." Miss. R. Civ. P. 56(c). "We will not reverse the trial court's decision unless it appears that triable issues of fact remain when the facts are viewed in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party." Moore v. Mem'l Hosp., 825 So.2d 658, 663 (Miss.2002) (citing Robinson v. Singing River Hosp. Sys., 732 So.2d 204 207 (Miss.1999)). However, "[a]bsent an abuse of discretion, a judge's determination as to the qualifications of an expert witness will remain undisturbed on appeal." Hubbard v. Wansley, 954 So.2d 951, 956 (Miss.2007) (citing Palmer v. Biloxi Reg'l Med. Ctr., 564 So.2d 1346, 1357 (Miss.1990) (citation omitted)). This Court stated:
The law empowers a trial judge to determine whether a proffered expert is qualified to testify and does not restrict exercise of this power to the trial stage only. That is, a judge has as much power to resolve doubts on qualifications of proffered experts during the summary judgment stage as he has during the trial stage. And of course, the standard which this Court must apply when reviewing a trial judge's decision to disqualify remains unchanged-notwithstanding that the decision was made during the summary judgment stage. That is, this Court will determine whether the trial judge abused his discretion.
¶ 9. The trial court granted MHG's Motion to Dismiss or in the Alternative Motion for Summary Judgment; thus, dismissing the action against MHG as time-barred pursuant to Mississippi Code Section 11-46-11(3), which states in part:
All actions brought under the provisions of this chapter shall be commenced within one (1) year next after the date of the tortious, wrongful or otherwise actionable conduct on which the liability phase of the action is based, and not after; provided, however, that the filing of a notice of claim as required by subsection (1) of this section shall serve to toll the statute of limitations for a period of ninety-five (95) days from the date the chief executive officer of the state agency receives the notice of claim, or for one hundred twenty (120) days from the date the chief executive officer or other statutorily designated official of a municipality, county or other political subdivision receives the notice of claim....
Miss.Code Ann. § 11-46-11(3) (Rev.2002). The trial court determined that "any negligence for which MHG would be liable had to have occurred on or before March 14, 2003," the date on which Mr. McDonald was discharged from MHG and admitted to SSH. The trial court ruled that since MHG did not receive notice of the claim until March 22, 2004, a little more than one year after Mr. McDonald's discharge from MHG, the action was barred by the statute of limitations.
¶ 10. However, since the trial court did not address the discovery rule with respect to section 11-46-11(3), we must do so today for the sake of clarity. This Court has held that a discovery rule applies to claims under the Mississippi Tort Claims Act (MTCA). See Caves v. Yarbrough, 991 So.2d 142, 154 (Miss.2008) (). In Caves, decided after the trial judge's entry of judgments in today's case, this Court stated:
We hold today that the MTCA's one-year statute of limitations begins to run when the claimant knows, or by exercise of reasonable diligence should know, of both the damage or injury, and the act or omission which proximately caused it. We...
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