Pratcher v. Methodist Healthcare Memphis Hosps.

• Decision Date: 28 June 2013
• Docket Number: No. W2011–01576–SC–S09–CV.,W2011–01576–SC–S09–CV.
• Citation: 407 S.W.3d 727
• Parties: Eddie C. PRATCHER, Jr. v. METHODIST HEALTHCARE MEMPHIS HOSPITALS et al.
• Court: Tennessee Supreme Court

407 S.W.3d 727

Eddie C. PRATCHER, Jr.

v.METHODIST HEALTHCARE MEMPHIS HOSPITALS et al.

No. W2011–01576–SC–S09–CV.

Supreme Court of Tennessee,

at Jackson.

Nov. 8, 2012 Session Heard at Memphis.

June 28, 2013.

Robert A. Talley, Kenneth Shuttleworth, and Jessica M. Hackett, Memphis, Tennessee, for the appellant, Consultants in Anesthesia, Inc.

Randall L. Kinnard and Daniel L. Clayton, Nashville, Tennessee; Steven R. Walker, Oakland, Tennessee, for the appellee, Eddie C. Pratcher, Jr.

OPINION

SHARON G. LEE, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which GARY R. WADE, C.J., and JANICE M. HOLDER and CORNELIA A. CLARK, JJ., joined. WILLIAM C. KOCH, JR., J., filed a dissenting opinion.

SHARON G. LEE, J.

The primary issue in this interlocutory appeal is whether the Tennessee health care liability statute of repose, Tenn.Code Ann. § 29–26–116(a)(3) (2012) (“the statute of repose”), is an affirmative defense under Tenn. R. Civ. P. 8.03, that is waived if not raised in a timely manner. Sandra Y. Jones Pratcher died following complications that arose on December 4, 1999, when she received anesthesia before undergoing a cesarean section. On December 1, 2000, her husband, Eddie C. Pratcher, Jr., (“Plaintiff”) filed suit against various health care providers, including Consultants in Anesthesia, Inc. (“Defendant”) and one of its nurse anesthetists. Plaintiff alleged that Defendant, which contracted with the hospital to provide anesthesia services to its obstetric patients, was vicariously liable for the negligent acts of its nurse anesthetist. Plaintiff amended his complaint on March 3, 2006, to assert that Defendant was also vicariously liable for the negligent actions of its corporate owner and president, Dr. Chauhan, who was on call on December 4, 1999, but failed to come to the hospital to administer anesthesia to Plaintiff's wife. Plaintiff amended his complaint two more times and each time asserted that Defendant was vicariously liable for the negligent acts of Dr. Chauhan. Defendant did not raise the statute of repose as a defense to the vicarious liability claim based on Dr. Chauhan's alleged negligence. After the jury returned a verdict for all defendants, the trial court set aside the verdict based on an error in the verdict form and its disapproval of the verdict as thirteenth juror. After the trial court granted a new trial as to all parties, Defendant moved to dismiss the case based on the statute of repose and to amend its answer to assert a statute of repose defense. The trial court ruled that Defendant had waived the statute of repose defense and denied the motions. We hold that (1) the running of the statute of repose does not deprive the trial court of subject matter jurisdiction; and (2) as Rule 8.03 explicitly states, the statute of repose is an affirmative defense. Defendant failed to timely raise the statute of repose as an affirmative defense. Therefore, the trial court did not abuse its discretion by denying Defendant's post-trial motion to amend its answer to assert the statute of repose as a defense. The judgment of the trial court is affirmed.

I.

On Saturday morning, December 4, 1999, Sandra Y. Jones Pratcher, who was thirty-six weeks pregnant, was feeling ill. After she vomited what appeared to be blood, Plaintiff took her to the emergency room at Methodist Hospital–Central in Memphis.

Mrs. Pratcher was thirty-four years old, weighed 280 pounds, and suffered from hypertension. After being admitted through the emergency room, she was taken to the labor and delivery unit of the hospital. Dr. Alison Mullaly, the resident obstetrician on call, determined that Mrs. Pratcher's blood pressure was high. Dr. Mullaly decided to induce Mrs. Pratcher's labor and deliver the baby. When the baby's heart rate began to fluctuate downward, Dr. Mullaly decided the baby needed to be delivered by cesarean section.

Defendant had an exclusive contract to provide anesthesia services in the obstetrical labor and operating rooms at Methodist Hospital–Central. Defendant agreed to provide its services twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. After Mrs. Pratcher was taken to the operating room, Irene C. Wadlington, a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist employed by Defendant, began preparing for the anesthesia process. Before Mrs. Pratcher's surgery began, Ms. Wadlington was called away to another operating room to assist a patient who was having an emergency cesarean section. Defendant had no other personnel in the hospital to administer Mrs. Pratcher's anesthesia. Dr. Dinesh Chauhan, the owner and president of Defendant, was at his home that Saturday afternoon and evening. When a nurse called him to come to the hospital, Dr. Chauhan indicated that with holiday traffic, he was forty-five minutes away. Dr. Chauhan did not go to the hospital, and instead Dr. Philip Andrew Rojas, an anesthesiologist employed by the Medical Anesthesia Group, was requested to provide anesthesia for the surgery. Although Dr. Rojas did not work in the labor and delivery operating unit, he agreed to administer anesthesia to Mrs. Pratcher.

Almost immediately after Dr. Rojas administered the first anesthetic drugs to Mrs. Pratcher through an intravenous catheter, she began having respiratory distress. Multiple attempts were made to establish an airway, but Mrs. Pratcher stopped breathing and went into cardiac arrest. An endotracheal tube was inserted and medical staff were able to revive Mrs. Pratcher's heart, but she suffered injuries to her brain from the lack of oxygen. Mrs. Pratcher's doctors successfully delivered Mrs. Pratcher's baby, but Mrs. Pratcher lapsed into a coma and was taken to the intensive care unit. Mrs. Pratcher remained in a coma and died on January 19, 2000.

II.

On December 1, 2000, Plaintiff, as surviving spouse and next friend of Mrs. Pratcher's three minor children,¹ filed a complaint alleging medical negligence against (1) Methodist Healthcare–Memphis Hospitals (“Methodist Hospital”); (2) Dr. Rojas; (3) Medical Anesthesia Group as the employer of Dr. Rojas; (4) Ms. Wadlington; and (5) Defendant as the employer of Ms. Wadlington.² Plaintiff contended that the named defendants' negligence proximately caused his wife's injuries on December 4, 1999, and her death on January 19, 2000. As to Defendant, the complaint specifically asserted a vicarious liability claim based on respondeat superior due to the alleged negligence of Ms. Wadlington, Defendant's employee and agent. Initially, Plaintiff did not sue Dr. Chauhan or include a vicarious liability claim against Defendant for any alleged negligence by Dr. Chauhan.

On January 3, 2001, Plaintiff filed an amended complaint, asserting the same allegations against Defendant. Defendant answered the amended complaint on May 30, 2001, denying any negligence and contending that the amended complaint failed to state a claim upon which relief may be granted. Defendant also pleaded the statute of limitations and comparative fault as defenses.

On December 4, 2002, the statute of repose for health care liability ran on Plaintiff's claims. The statute provides in pertinent part that “[i]n no event shall any such [health care liability] action be brought more than three (3) years after the date on which the negligent act or omission occurred.” Tenn.Code Ann. § 29–26–116(a)(3) (2012).

On November 1, 2005, Dr. Rojas and Medical Anesthesia Group filed a motion for leave to file an amended answer, alleging comparative fault against Defendant and Dr. Chauhan. The trial court granted this motion, and Dr. Rojas filed an amended answer on March 15, 2006.

On March 3, 2006, Plaintiff filed a second amended complaint with leave of court, asserting that Defendant was vicariously liable for the negligent acts of Dr. Chauhan and Ms. Wadlington. The amended complaint alleged that Dr. Chauhan failed to come to the hospital on December 4, 1999, when he was needed. Defendant did not answer the second amended complaint and, thus, failed to asserta defense based on the statute of repose.

On April 21, 2006, Plaintiff filed a third amended complaint with leave of court similar to the second amended complaint, alleging Defendant was vicariously liable for the negligence of Dr. Chauhan and Ms. Wadlington. Defendant did not answer the third amended complaint and, thus, again failed to raise a statute of repose defense.

On July 3, 2006, Plaintiff filed a fourth amended complaint with leave of court, alleging Defendant negligently breached its contract with Methodist Hospital because Dr. Chauhan failed to provide anesthesia care. On August 15, 2006, Defendant answered the fourth amended complaint, alleging that the complaint failed to state a cause of action upon which relief could be granted. Defendant's answer did not raise the statute of repose as a defense.

The pretrial order listed the contentions of the parties, including Plaintiff's contention that Ms. Wadlington, Dr. Chauhan, and Defendant were all at fault. A jury heard the case from September 11 to 22, 2006. As a part of his proof, Plaintiff introduced expert testimony that Dr. Chauhan and Ms. Wadlington deviated from the applicable standards of care.

At the close of Plaintiff's proof, the trial judge granted a directed verdict as to the direct negligence of Methodist Hospital. The case proceeded as to Medical Anesthesia Group as the employer of Dr. Rojas, Dr. Rojas, Defendant as the employer of Ms. Wadlington and Dr. Chauhan, and Ms. Wadlington. When jury deliberations began on September 21, 2006, the trial court gave the jury a verdict form that provided in pertinent part:

1. Do you find the Defendants, DR. PHILIP ANDREW ROJAS/MEDICAL ANESTHESIA GROUP, to be at fault?

Answer: ____ (YES or NO)

2. Do you find the Defendants, IRENE C. WADLINGTON, CRNA/CONSULTANTS IN ANESTHESIA, INC. to be at fault?

Answer: ____ (YES or NO)

( ... If you answered Questions Number 1 and 2 “NO” sign the verdict form and notify the Court Officer.)

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