Tong-Summerford v. Abington Mem'l Hosp.
Decision Date | 13 June 2018 |
Docket Number | No. 3310 EDA 2016,No. 3114 EDA 2016,3114 EDA 2016,3310 EDA 2016 |
Parties | Anita E. TONG–SUMMERFORD, as Administrator of the Estate of Marvin Jerome Summerford, Dec. v. ABINGTON MEMORIAL HOSPITAL and Radiology Group of Abington, P.C. and Kristin L. Crisci, M.D. Appeal of: Abington Memorial Hospital Anita E. Tong–Summerford, Administrator of the Estate of Marvin Jerome Summerford v. Abington Memorial Hospital, Radiology Group of Abington, P.C., Valerie Bonica, D.O. and Kristin L. Crisci, M.D. Appeal of: Radiology Group of Abington, P.C., and Kristin L. Crisci, M.D. |
Court | Pennsylvania Superior Court |
John J. Hare, Philadelphia, for Abington Memorial Hospital.
Charles L. Becker, Philadelphia, for Tong–Summerford, appellee.
BEFORE: PANELLA, J., OLSON, J., and STEVENS* , P.J.E.
In these consolidated appeals, Appellants Abington Memorial Hospital (hereinafter "AMH"); Kristin L. Crisci, M.D. (hereinafter "Dr. Crisci"); and Radiology Group of Abington, P.C. (hereinafter "RGA") (hereinafter collectively, at times, "Appellants") appeal from the judgment entered in the Court of Common Pleas of Montgomery County on September 2, 2016, at which time the trial court denied their respective post-trial motions, molded the verdict of $5,000,000 in favor of Anita E. Tong–Summerford, as administrator of the estate of Marvin Jerome Summerford, deceased, (hereinafter "Appellee") to add delay damages in the amount of $947,157.53, and ordered the delay damages to be apportioned between the Wrongful Death Act and Survival Act claims in the same proportionate allocation as in the verdict: 30% ($284,147.26) to the Wrongful Death Act claim and 70% ($663,010.27) to the Survival Act claim. Upon our review, we affirm.
The trial court set forth the facts and procedural history herein as follows:
On November 30, 2008, Marvin Summerford, age 88, was transferred to the emergency department of Abington Memorial Hospital (hereinafter, "AMH" or the "Hospital") from a long-term care facility. Mr. Summerford's past medical history included dementia
, hypertension, congestive heart failure, and pulmonary insufficiency. On December 1, 2008, Mr. Summerford suffered cardiac arrest secondary to pneumonia, and a code was called due to pulseless electrical activity, decreased heart rate, and low blood pressure. Mr. Summerford survived and was transferred to the ICU.
On December 2, 2008, a feeding tube was inserted and an order was placed for an x-ray to confirm proper placement.1 The x-ray revealed that the tube had been inadvertently inserted into the lung and was therefore removed. The feeding tube was re-inserted, and another x-ray was ordered to confirm proper placement. Again, the feeding tube was not properly placed.
On the next day, December 3, 2008, Valerie Bonica, D.O., an AMH resident, inserted a new feeding tube into Mr. Summerford. Dr. Bonica ordered a portable chest x-ray to confirm proper placement of the tube at 3:55 p.m. In response to this order, x-ray technologist Jillian Nickel, an AMH employee, performed a portable x-ray at 4:53 p.m. capturing the lower chest and abdomen.2 This image was interpreted by Kristin Crisci, M.D., a radiologist, who incorrectly read the study as showing termination of the feeding tube in decedent's stomach when, in fact, it terminated in Mr. Summerford's left lung. Dr. Crisci signed her report at 5:33 p.m. She did not order additional imaging. In reliance upon Dr. Crisci's report, Dr. Bonica ordered administration of a feeding solution (Jevity) at 10 cc's per hour for the first eight hours. The first feed was administered at approximately 11:00 p.m. on December 3, 2008. From 11:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. the next morning, 50 cc's of Jevity and 420 cc's of flush was administered through the feeding tube into Mr. Summerford's lung.
Mr. Summerford's condition deteriorated. At 4:38 a.m. on December 4, 2008, Dr. Bonica placed a STAT order for portable chest x-ray to aid in the diagnosis/treatment of pneumonia. The x-ray was completed at 4:46 a.m. but was not analyzed by a radiologist until 8:13 a.m., at which time the radiologist recognized the feeding tube was positioned in Mr. Summerford's left lung. By this time, Mr. Summerford had already been pronounced dead at 7:11 a.m. on December 4, 2008.
, the technologist performed an abdominal study. N.T. 05.10.16 (p.m.), p. 93. [Appellee's] expert Dr. Igidbashian testified that it was an abdominal study. N.T. 05.10.16 (a.m.), p. 95. However, AMH's expert, Dr. Hani Abujudeh, testified that," ... this was not a chest x-ray. It was not an abdominal x-ray. It was a hybrid x-ray, between a chest and an abdomen." N.T. 05.11.16 (p.m.), p. 144.
3 It was stipulated that Dr. Crisci was an employee/agent of Radiology Group of Abington, P.C. ("RGA"). By agreement of all parties, Dr. Crisci and RGA appeared together on the verdict sheet. N.T. 05.12.16 (p.m.), p. 89–91.
4[Appellants] do not raise any issue on appeal regarding the addition of delay damages.
5 AMH appeal Docket Number 3114 EDA 2016; Dr. Crisci appeal Docket Number 3310 EDA 2016.
Trial Court Opinion, filed 12/29/16, at 1–3.
On October 18, 2016, Dr. Crisci and RGA filed a timely Concise Statement of Errors Complained of on Appeal wherein they raised ten (10) issues. On October 25, 2016, AMH filed its Statement of Matters Complained of on Appeal wherein it also set fourth ten (10) issues.
In their brief, Dr. Crisci and RGA raise the following Statement of Questions Presented:
In its brief, AMH sets forth the following Statement of the Questions Involved:
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