Williams v. Bhoopathi
| Decision Date | 26 July 1985 |
| Citation | 474 So.2d 690 |
| Parties | Larry J. WILLIAMS, as father of Joshua James Williams, deceased minor, et al. v. Dr. Bharathi BHOOPATHI. 84-155. |
| Court | Alabama Supreme Court |
Larry R. Grissett, Opp, for appellants.
A. Neil Hudgens and Michael S. McGlothren of Brown, Hudgens, Richardson, Mobile, for appellee.
Gloria and Larry Williams appeal from the trial court's granting of the defendant- appellee's motion for directed verdict in a medical malpractice case. We affirm.
This action arose as the result of a stillbirth of one of a set of triplets at the Grove Hill Memorial Hospital on February 15, 1981. The mother, Gloria Williams, had been a patient of Dr. Jack Dozier. Dr. Dozier referred his maternity patients to the appellee, Dr. Bharathi Bhoopathi, for treatment. Dr. Bhoopathi examined Mrs. Williams on three occasions prior to the deliveries. The doctor sent Mrs. Williams to Dr. D.W. Wager in Monroeville for an ultrasound test, which indicated she was carrying twins.
On the night of the births, Larry Williams drove his wife and her mother to Thomasville Hospital. They stayed there approximately fifteen minutes before they were informed that Dr. Bhoopathi worked at Grove Hill Memorial Hospital. After a twenty-minute drive, they arrived at Grove Hill.
Mrs. Williams, assisted by a nurse, immediately gave birth to the first child, a healthy boy. Dr. Bhoopathi arrived shortly thereafter. The doctor testified that when she examined Mrs. Williams, she saw the second child's hands were protruding from the womb (a double hand prolapse) and felt its shoulder. There is conflicting evidence as to whether Dr. Bhoopathi attempted to turn the baby. Mrs. Williams was put on a fetal heart monitor, which indicated a single fetal heartbeat. It is not clear whether this was before or after the disputed attempt to turn the baby. Dr. Bhoopathi performed a Caesarean section, assisted by Dr. Preston McDonald. The second male child was stillborn, but the third boy was healthy. The autopsy of the stillborn child showed he died of asphyxia during the first or second stages of labor.
The Williamses initially sued the Grove Hill Memorial Hospital and Drs. Dozier, Wager, McDonald, and Bhoopathi. The trial court granted summary judgment for the hospital and Dr. Wager and dismissed the actions against Drs. Dozier and McDonald on the Williamses' motion. Only the suit against Dr. Bhoopathi went to trial. The trial court granted Dr. Bhoopathi's motion for directed verdict at the close of the Williamses' evidence. The Williamses appeal.
The Williamses contend that delays caused by Dr. Bhoopathi's negligence resulted in the baby's death from lack of oxygen during delivery. They allege two-fold negligence on the part of Dr. Bhoopathi: (1) she failed to tell the Williamses in which hospital she worked, causing them to go to the wrong hospital; and (2) she attempted to turn the baby instead of immediately performing a Caesarean section.
The rule in medical malpractice cases is that to find liability,...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Stinnett v. Kennedy
...complained of caused the injury; there must be evidence that the negligence probably caused the injury." ’ (quoting Williams v. Bhoopathi, 474 So.2d 690, 691 (Ala. 1985), and citing Baker v. Chastain, 389 So.2d 932 (Ala. 1980) )). In Cain v. Howorth, 877 So.2d 566 (Ala. 2003), this Court st......
-
Crutcher v. Williams
...that the alleged negligence `probably caused the injury.' Parrish v. Russell, 569 So.2d 328, 330 (Ala. 1990), citing Williams v. Bhoopathi, 474 So.2d 690, 691 (Ala.1985). This has been the standard in Alabama for Dr. Crutcher argues that the trial court erred in denying his motion for a jud......
-
Thompson v. Patton
...complained of caused the injury; there must be evidence that the negligence probably caused the injury.'" (quoting Williams v. Bhoopathi, 474 So.2d 690, 691 (Ala.1985), and citing Baker v. Chastain, 389 So.2d 932 "Sorrell v. King, 946 So.2d 854, 862 (Ala. 2006). "_______________ "1 The [Ala......
-
Pacifico v. Jackson
...possibility that the alleged negligence caused the injury." Howard v. Mitchell, 492 So.2d 1018, 1019 (Ala.1986); and see Williams v. Bhoopathi, 474 So.2d 690 (Ala1985). The testimony of Dr. Jackson's experts tended to show that the injury was caused by Dr. Pacifico's negligence in placing t......