Stanley v. Chevathanarat, 33666.
| Citation | 664 S.E.2d 146,222 W.Va. 261 |
| Decision Date | 24 April 2008 |
| Docket Number | No. 33666.,33666. |
| Parties | Brenda L. STANLEY, Plaintiff Below, Appellant, v. Suthipan CHEVATHANARAT, Defendant Below, Appellee. |
| Court | Supreme Court of West Virginia |
Syllabus by the Court
1. "Upon a motion for [pre-verdict judgment as a matter of law], all reasonable doubts and inferences should be resolved in favor of the party against whom the verdict is asked to be directed." Syllabus point 5, Wager v. Sine, 157 W.Va. 391, 201 S.E.2d 260 (1973).
2. Syllabus point 2, Cross v. Trapp, 170 W.Va. 459, 294 S.E.2d 446 (1982).
3. Syllabus point 2, in part, Faris v. Harry Green Chevrolet, Inc., 212 W.Va. 386, 572 S.E.2d 909 (2002).
Norman W. White, Shaffer & Shaffer, Madison, WV, William T. Forester, Logan, WV, for Appellant.
Mark A. Robinson, Ryan A. Brown, Flaherty, Sensabaugh & Bonasso, Charleston, WV, for Appellee.
This is an appeal by Brenda L. Stanley, appellant/plaintiff below, from an adverse jury verdict in a medical malpractice action that was tried before a jury in the Circuit Court of Logan County. The case was brought against Dr. Suthipan Chevathanarat, appellee/defendant below (hereinafter "Dr. Chevy"), on the theory that Dr. Chevy failed to obtain informed consent from Ms. Stanley prior to performing surgery on her. In this appeal, Ms. Stanley assigns error to the trial court's denial of her pre-verdict motion for judgment as a matter of law on the single issue of breach of the standard of care. After a careful review of the briefs, record and consideration of the oral arguments by the parties, we affirm.
The relevant facts of this case date back to the early 1990s. During this period, Ms. Stanley began receiving hormone replacement therapy (hereinafter "HRT") under the care of Dr. Rodney Stephens. The HRT was administered to Ms. Stanley in order to offset symptoms caused by the onset of menopause. It appears that in spite of the HRT treatment, Ms. Stanley continued to experience vaginal bleeding. At some point in 1995, Ms. Stanley consulted with Dr. Chevy for the purpose of getting her vaginal bleeding under control.
During the course of Dr. Chevy's treatment of Ms. Stanley, which spanned several years, he unsuccessfully tried various procedures to control her vaginal bleeding, including manipulating her HRT regimen. At some point during Ms. Stanley's treatment with Dr. Chevy, an ultrasound study was performed on her. The ultrasound study indicated that Ms. Stanley had a fibroid tumor in her uterus. Dr. Chevy believed that the fibroid tumor was the source of her continued bleeding.1
On June 3, 1998, Ms. Stanley met with Dr. Chevy to discuss having a total abdominal hysterectomy performed to remove the tumor. On June 19, 1998, Ms. Stanley signed an "Informed Consent Form" that gave authorization to perform surgery to remove the tumor. Subsequent to the surgery being performed, Ms. Stanley developed complications which resulted in several additional surgeries being performed on her.
In January of 2000, Ms. Stanley filed a medical malpractice action against Dr. Chevy as a result of the post-surgery complications. The complaint alleged various theories of liability involving breach of the standard of care. The case was tried before a jury in 2003. At the close of all the evidence, the trial court granted Dr. Chevy's motion for judgment as a matter of law on the sole issue of informed consent. All other theories of liability went to the jury. The jury returned a verdict in favor of Dr. Chevy on all issues.2
Ms. Stanley filed a post-trial motion seeking a new trial. As a consequence of the development of a post-trial conflict of interest involving the trial judge and Ms. Stanley,3 a new trial judge was appointed to rule on the post-trial motion for a new trial. The new trial judge granted Ms. Stanley a new trial on the sole issue of informed consent.4
In 2005, a jury trial was held on the issue of informed consent. At the close of all the evidence Ms. Stanley argued that she was entitled to judgment as a matter of law on the issue of negligence, and that the jury should be required to only determine the issues of causation and damages. The trial court denied the motion for judgment as a matter of law on negligence, and submitted the case to the jury on all issues. The verdict form used by the jury required a specific finding for negligence and causation. The jury returned a verdict finding Dr. Chevy did not breach the standard of care and therefore never reached the issue of causation. This appeal followed.
In this appeal we are called upon to review the trial court's denial of Ms. Stanley's pre-verdict motion for judgment as a matter of law, under Rule 50(a) of the West Virginia Rules of Civil Procedure, on the issue of breach of the standard of care. This Court applies "a de novo standard of review to the grant or denial of a pre-verdict or post-verdict motion for judgment as a matter of law." Gillingham v. Stephenson, 209 W.Va. 741, 745, 551 S.E.2d 663, 667 (2001). See also Yates v. University of West Virginia Bd. of Trs., 209 W.Va. 487, 493, 549 S.E.2d 681, 687 (2001); Adkins v. Chevron, USA, Inc., 199 W.Va. 518, 522, 485 S.E.2d 687, 691 (1997). However, we must review a Rule 50(a) motion "using the same standards as those to be employed by the trial court." Burch v. Coca-Cola Co., 119 F.3d 305, 313 (5th Cir.1997) (citation omitted). See also Franklin D. Cleckley, Robin J. Davis, & Louis J. Palmer, Jr., Litigation Handbook on West Virginia Rules of Civil Procedure § 50(a), at 1150 (2006) (). We have indicated that a motion for "judgment as a matter of law should be granted at the close of the evidence when, after considering the evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmovant, only one reasonable verdict is possible." Waddy v. Riggleman, 216 W.Va. 250, 255, 606 S.E.2d 222, 227 (2004) (citation omitted). In addition, "[u]pon a motion for [pre-verdict judgment as a matter of law], all reasonable doubts and inferences should be resolved in favor of the party against whom the verdict is asked to be directed." Syl. pt. 5, Wager v. Sine, 157 W.Va. 391, 201 S.E.2d 260 (1973). Stated more pointedly in reviewing a motion for judgment as a matter of law, a court should (1) resolve direct factual conflicts in favor of the nonmovant, (2) assume as true all facts supporting the nonmovant which the evidence tended to prove, (3) give the nonmovant the benefit of all reasonable inferences, and (4) deny the motion if the evidence so viewed would allow reasonable jurors to differ as to the conclusions that could be drawn.
Cleckley, et al., Litigation Handbook § 50(a)(1), at 73 (Cum.Supp.2007) (footnote omitted). With these standards in view, we turn to the issue presented on appeal.
This case was prosecuted by Ms. Stanley under the theory that Dr. Chevy failed to obtain her informed consent prior to performing a total abdominal hysterectomy on her. Regarding the liability theory of informed consent, this Court has held the following:
A physician has a duty to disclose information to his or her patient in order that the patient may give to the physician an informed consent to a particular medical procedure such as surgery. In the case of surgery, the physician ordinarily should disclose to the patient various considerations including (1) the possibility of the surgery, (2) the risks involved concerning the surgery, (3) alternative methods of treatment, (4) the risks relating to such alternative methods of treatment and (5) the results likely to occur if the patient remains untreated.
Syl. pt. 2, Cross v. Trapp, 170 W.Va. 459, 294 S.E.2d 446 (1982). In this appeal, we are asked to address only the third element under Cross, i.e., informing a patient of alternative methods of treatment.
Ms. Stanley contends that "it is crystallized in the record that Dr. Chevy did not discuss or offer HRT as an alternative method of treatment."5 To support this argument, Ms. Stanley contends that "Dr. Chevy himself admitted that he did not offer HRT to her." As a consequence of Ms. Stanley's interpretation of the evidence, she contends that she was entitled to judgment as a matter of law on the issue of negligence, and that the jury should have been allowed to consider only the issues of causation and damages. If the evidence was as "crystal clear" as Ms. Stanley contends, we would agree with her. However, for the reasons that follow, we cannot subscribe to Ms. Stanley's view of the evidence.
During the trial of this case. Ms. Stanley gave the following testimony regarding whether Dr. Chevy had informed her of alternative methods of treatment:
Q. If you look at the [informed consent] form, Ms. Stanley, the four corners of the form, it appears to me, and you tell me if you agree, that's [sic] there [sic] two alternatives, the abdominal total hysterectomy or a total hysterectomy done by vaginal route...
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