University Community Hospital v. Martin, 75--583

• Decision Date: 26 March 1976
• Docket Number: No. 75--583,75--583
• Citation: University Community Hospital v. Martin, 328 So.2d 858 (Fla. App. 1976)
• Parties: UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY HOSPITAL, Appellant, v. William R. MARTIN, Appellee. . Second District
• Court: Florida District Court of Appeals

Page 858

328 So.2d 858

UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY HOSPITAL, Appellant, v. William R. MARTIN, Appellee.

No. 75--583.

District Court of Appeal of Florida. Second District.

March 26, 1976.

John R. Bush, of Macfarlane, Ferguson, Allison & Kelly, Tampa, for appellant.

Richard M. Mitzel, of Marlow, Mitzel, Ortmayer & Shofi, and David A. Maney, of Gordon & Maney, Tampa, for appellee.

SCHEB, Judge.

Appellant/defendant University Community Hospital appeals from a judgment entered on a jury verdict awarding appellee/plaintiff William R. Martin $350,000. The thrust of the appellant Hospital's contention is that Martin was an irreversible paraplegic when he was admitted to the Hospital; hence, the fall he sustained as a result of the Hospital's alleged negligence did not aggravate his then existing injuries. We affirm the judgment of the trial court as to the Hospital's liability, but reverse and remand to the trial judge to enter an appropriate remittitur.

Plaintiff Martin, age 37, was admitted to the defendant Hospital on August 21, 1968, after having suffered a gunshot wound to his neck. He was treated by Dr. Romano, a general surgeon, and Dr. Trupp, a neurosurgeon. During the first few days of treatment, Dr. Romano formed an opinion that Martin would be a permanent paraplegic. Dr. Trupp was of the opinion that Martin's spinal column had suffered such severe damage that 'nothing we could do would help him' and that eventual spasms in his extremities would be inevitable. On August 22, however, Dr. Trupp noted in the hospital records that Martin 'apparently appreciates sensation to his feet. This is an amazingly good thing.'

On August 26, while Martin was in an intensive care unit, nurses at the hospital placed him on a special bed used to allow immobilized patients to be rotated to a vertical position. The nurse who was responsible for checking out the bed failed to check on the position of an essential bolt, and as the bed was rotated Martin fell. There was conflict in the testimony as to injuries caused by the fall. Martin claimed he struck his back on a chair, while the nurse testified she caught him prior to the time he struck anything. After this incident, Martin was examined by Dr. Gomez, who noted the patient had not sustained any injury when a section of the bed had almost fallen down. Martin testified, however, that his pain intensified after the fall and that it was only after the fall that he had begun to suffer spasms. Moreover, he testified to a decrease in sensation. He was discharged from the defendant Hospital on October 17, 1968, after which he was a patient in various other hospitals. He has since undergone several operations, but he remains paralyzed.

Dr. Feegle, a pathologist, testified as an expert witness for the plaintiff Martin. It was Dr. Feegle's opinion that the fall striking the mid portion of Martin's back in the area through which the bullet had passed had caused some degree of neurological and spinal cord damages, which in turn caused additional injury to the wound site. And, while Dr. Feegle could not assess any particular degree of aggravation caused to the already existing damage, he did testify that Martin's fall from the bed injured him to some additional degree. For the defendant, Dr. Trupp testified that he had seen no medical changes in Martin on August 26, or thereafter, which warranted any inference that any injury such as a fall occurring in the Hospital had worsened his condition, but rather that all of Martin's problems were consistent with the original gunshot injury and inconsistent with any other injury.

Initially, we reject the Hospital's argument that the plaintiff's evidence did not warrant submission of the case to the jury. We find competent substantial evidence from which the jury found that Martin suffered additional injury resulting from the Hospital's negligence in allowing him to fall from the bed. Martin testified he had fallen out of bed and there were notes from one of the nurses indicating that after such fall he was unable to move his toes. Even Dr. Trupp acknowledged there had been some sensation in Martin's feet prior to the fall, but there was none there after it. This testimony, together with Dr. Feegle's testimony that the fall had caused some degree of re-injury to the original injury, was a sufficient evidentiary basis for the jury to have concluded that: (a) Martin fell; (b) that such fall was a result of the Hospital's negligence; (c) that such negligence was the proximate cause of Some re-injury or aggravation of the plaintiff's existing injury; and (d) that the plaintiff suffered Some general damages as a result thereof.

On the issue of damages, the trial judge instructed the jury as follows:

'. . . if you find that the testimony proved negligence which was a legal cause of loss, injury or damage to William Martin in and for which the University Community Hospital is responsible, you should award William Martin an amount within that the greater weight of evidence shows will fairly and adequately compensate him for such losses or injuries or damages including any such damages William Martin is reasonably certain to incur or experience in the future.

You should consider the following elements: Any bodily injury sustained by William Martin and any resulting pain and suffering, disability, disfigurement, mental anguish, and loss of capacity for the enjoyment of life experienced in the past or to be experienced in the future. There is no exact standard for figuring the compensation to be awarded, but any such award should be fair and just in light of the...