Vede v. Delta Reg'l Med. Ctr.
| Docket Number: | 2004-CA-01418-COA | |
| Court of Appeals: |
Opinion Link Opinion Date: 06-27-2006 Opinion Author: BARNES, J. Holding: Affirmed |
|
| Additional Case Information: |
Topic: Medical malpractice - Deviation from guidelines Judge(s) Concurring: KING, C.J., LEE AND MYERS, P.JJ., SOUTHWICK, IRVING, CHANDLER, GRIFFIS, ISHEE AND ROBERTS, JJ. Procedural History: Bench Trial Nature of the Case: CIVIL - MEDICAL MALPRACTICE |
|
| Trial Court: |
Date of Trial Judgment: 05-07-2004 Appealed from: WASHINGTON COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT Judge: Betty W. Sanders Disposition: JUDGMENT IN FAVOR OF DELTA REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER Case Number: CI2001-100 |
|
| Party Name: | Attorney Name: | |||
| Appellant: | JASON KIRBY VEDE AND DEBRA VEDE |
PHILIP MANSOUR, J. E. CULLENS |
||
| Appellee: | Delta Regional Medical Center | ROBERT R. STEPHENSON, L. CARL HAGWOOD |
|
|
Synopsis provided by:  If you are interested in subscribing to the weekly synopses of all Mississippi Supreme Court and Court of Appeals hand downs please contact Tammy Upton in the MLI Press office. |
|
| Topic: | Medical malpractice - Deviation from guidelines |
| Summary of the Facts: | Jason and Debra Vede filed a complaint against Delta Regional Medical Center for medical malpractice. They alleged that Jason developed a decubitus ulcer because Delta’s employees negligently failed to turn him at regular intervals. The court found that the Vedes failed to prove by a preponderance of evidence that Delta acted negligently, and further failed to prove that the alleged acts or omissions of Delta proximately caused Jason to develop the ulcer. The Vedes appeal. |
| Summary of Opinion Analysis: | Delta’s in-house protocols, as well as national guidelines, recommend that a patient at risk for skin breakdown be turned by hospital staff at least once every two hours. The Vedes argue that Jason was only turned seven percent of the time he was required to be turned up to the day he developed the ulcer, and that, overall, he was turned only eighteen percent of the required time. One of Delta’s experts testified that the hospital’s turning “guidelines” are, by definition, suggestions, and not strict requirements and that Delta’s nurses and physicians have discretion to deviate from the guidelines if such a departure is warranted by a patient’s condition. Testimony from the expert and from Dr. Calvin Ramsey established that the severity of Jason’s injuries in fact justified such a deviation. Additionally, the record shows that, after discovering Jason’s ulcer, Delta placed him in a state-of-the-art bed, which, according to Dr. Ramsey, provided the best possible defense against decubitus ulcers. Taken as a whole, the testimony supports the trial judge’s ruling that Delta did not act negligently in caring for Jason. |
Home | Terms of Use | About the JDP | Feedback | Using JDP | MC Law Library | Mississippi Supreme Court
