Tetstone v. Adams, LL-124

Decision Date13 June 1979
Docket NumberNo. LL-124,LL-124
Citation373 So.2d 362
PartiesWanda Jane TETSTONE and Roger Dale Tetstone, Appellants, v. H. H. ADAMS, M. D., Appellee.
CourtFlorida District Court of Appeals

J. Randall Hooper and John P. Roscow, III, of Scruggs, Carmichael, Long, Tomlinson, Roscow, Pridgeon, Helpling & Young, Gainesville, for appellants.

John Moffitt Howell, of Howell, Wilt & Howell, P. A., Jacksonville Beach, for appellee.

MELVIN, Acting Chief Judge.

The Tetstones appeal a final summary judgment entered in favor of Dr. Adams based upon a finding that Mrs. Tetstone had knowledge of her injuries by September 17, 1973 so that the two year statute of limitations barred her action filed December 7, 1977. § 95.11(6), Fla.Stat. (1973). The sole issue is whether Mrs. Tetstone discovered or through the use of reasonable care should have discovered, the injury prior to December 7, 1975. We think this constituted an issue of material fact and reverse.

The complaint states that Mrs. Tetstone began treatment for chronic lower abdominal pain in July of 1972. This treatment culminated in a total hysterectomy performed by Dr. Adams on July 17, 1973. The depositions and affidavits reveal that interim treatment consisted of two dilation and curettage procedures, exploratory surgery, and removal of her appendix and an infected fallopian tube. The pain continued and other doctors examined her. One doctor suggested to her that the pain was psychological, whereas another suggested scar tissue might be the cause. The complaint alleges that in the course of the hysterectomy surgery, Dr. Adams committed negligent acts causing ureteral blockage and a ureterovaginal fistula through which urine began to leak. She reported this condition to Dr. Adams at her post-operative check up. Her condition was diagnosed and she was hospitalized in August, 1973. Dr. Adams' affidavit states that he told Mrs. Tetstone of the diagnosis and that the probable cause was the hysterectomy operation of July 17, 1973. However, Mrs. Tetstone's affidavit states that upon inquiry as to the cause of her condition in August, Dr. Adams merely told her that something else had shown up on the x-ray and that the specialists he referred her to could better explain it to her. The specialists performed tests to discover her exact condition. Mrs. Tetstone asked one of them what had been wrong and he stated that she had a block in the right ureter and that the ureter had a small hole just above the block. She asked him whether the hysterectomy was necessary and had the block caused her history of pain. He replied that he didn't think the block could have been there for as long as she had had the pain. She asked about the cause of the block, and he stated that sometimes the ureter would just grow together and that the ureter could have punctured itself because of the pressure. After hospitalization and further treatment spanning several weeks, the pain and her condition was apparently cured. Her last hospital release was September 17, 1973.

Notations in the Bradford County Hospital records, made by Dr. Adams, indicated that Mrs. Tetstone's condition followed hysterectomy surgery. The Alachua County Hospital record indicated that her condition had been caused by a ureteral injury. Dr. Adams pleaded the defense of the statute of limitations and Mrs. Tetstone responded that through the use of reasonable care, she should not have known of the injury until August, 1976, at which time she discovered a note in the hospital's accounting department indicating she had sustained a surgical injury occurring on or about July 17, 1973.

Aside from active concealment constituting fraud, there is a recognized fiduciary, confidential relationship of physician-patient imposing on the physician a duty to disclose known facts. Nardone v. Reynolds, 333 So.2d 25, 39 (Fla.1976). Mrs. Tetstone was not on notice as to either the negligent act or the injury caused thereby where she had no actual knowledge of either fact because the physician, Dr. Adams, failed to reveal to her facts (as distinguished from mere possibilities or conjecture) known to him relating to the nature and/or cause of her adverse physical condition. Almengor v. Dade County, 359 So.2d 892, 894 (Fla. 3d DCA 1978). The statute of...

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9 cases
  • Bogorff By and Through Bogorff v. Koch
    • United States
    • Court of Appeal of Florida (US)
    • April 18, 1989
    ...negligent act disclosed by the contents of obtainable hospital and medical records. Nardone, 333 So.2d at 34. But see Tetstone v. Adams, 373 So.2d 362 (Fla. 1st DCA 1979) (knowledge of medical records not imputed to patient when hospital and medical records contain technical terms that an o......
  • Roberts v. Casey
    • United States
    • Court of Appeal of Florida (US)
    • April 21, 1982
    ...Inc., 384 So.2d 897 (Fla. 4th DCA 1980); Mott v. Fort Pierce Memorial Hospital, 375 So.2d 360 (Fla. 4th DCA 1979); Tetstone v. Adams, 373 So.2d 362 (Fla. 1st DCA 1979); Eland v. Aylward, 373 So.2d 92 (Fla. 2d DCA 1979); Almengor v. Dade County, 359 So.2d 892 (Fla. 3d DCA 1978); Brooks v. Ce......
  • In re Pouliot
    • United States
    • United States Bankruptcy Courts. Eleventh Circuit. U.S. Bankruptcy Court — Southern District of Florida
    • May 30, 1996
    ...true facts known to him, and to not conceal any known facts. See Schafer v. Lehrer, 476 So.2d 781 (Fla. 4th DCA 1985); Tetstone v. Adams, 373 So.2d 362 (Fla. 1st DCA 1979); and Brooks v. Cerrato, 355 So.2d 119 (Fla. 4th DCA 1978). Specifically, the Plaintiffs assert that Sheila Caccamo plac......
  • Wimpey v. Sanchez, 79-1621
    • United States
    • Court of Appeal of Florida (US)
    • July 22, 1980
    ...Sarasohn, 379 So.2d 161 (Fla. 3d DCA 1980); Mott v. Fort Pierce Memorial Hospital, 375 So.2d 360 (Fla. 4th DCA 1979); Tetstone v. Adams, 373 So.2d 362 (Fla. 1st DCA 1979); Tobin v. Dannheisser, 372 So.2d 970 (Fla. 1st DCA 1979); Almengor v. Dade County, 359 So.2d 892 (Fla. 3d DCA 1978); Bro......
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