Smith v. Gilmore Memorial Hospital, Inc., et al.
| Docket Number: | 2005-CT-00166-SCT Linked Case(s): 2005-CA-00166-COA ; 2005-CT-00166-SCT ; 2005-CA-00166-COA |
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| Supreme Court: | Opinion Link Opinion Date: 03-22-2007 Opinion Author: SMITH, C.J. Holding: THE JUDGMENT OF THE COURT OF APPEALS IS REVERSED, AND THE JUDGMENT OF THE MONROE COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT IS REINSTATED AND AFFIRMED |
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| Additional Case Information: |
Topic: Medical malpractice - Expert witness - Layman’s exception Judge(s) Concurring: WALLER, P.J., CARLSON, GRAVES, DICKINSON AND RANDOLPH, JJ. Non Participating Judge(s): COBB, P.J. Dissenting Author : EASLEY, J. Dissent Joined By : DIAZ, J. Procedural History: Summary Judgment Nature of the Case: CIVIL - MEDICAL MALPRACTICE Writ of Certiorari: Yes Appealed from Court of Appeals |
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| Trial Court: |
Date of Trial Judgment: 01-19-2005 Appealed from: MONROE COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT Judge: Paul S. Funderburk Disposition: Granted Appellee's Motion for Summary Judgment Case Number: CV02-504-PF-M |
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| Party Name: | Attorney Name: | |||
| Appellant: | JORDAN KYLE SMITH, A MINOR, BY AND
THROUGH HIS NATURAL MOTHER AND NEXT
FRIEND, STEPHANIE SMITH |
ROY O. PARKER, SR.
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| Appellee: | GILMORE MEMORIAL HOSPITAL, INC. AND GILMORE HEALTH SYSTEMS, INC. | JOHN G. WHEELER MARGARET SAMS GRATZ |
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| Topic: | Medical malpractice - Expert witness - Layman’s exception |
| Summary of the Facts: | Jordan Smith, a minor, by and through his mother Stephanie Smith, sued Gilmore Memorial Hospital, Inc., Gilmore Health Systems, G. Edward Bryant, Jr., and others for alleged injuries received when Dr. Bryant mistakenly performed a surgical operation on Jordan Smith’s unimpaired left eyelid rather than on his impaired right eyelid. GMH moved for summary judgment, which the court granted. Smith appealed, and the Court of Appeals reversed the decision of the circuit court and remanded the case. The Supreme Court granted certiorari. |
| Summary of Opinion Analysis: | In asserting his negligence claim, Smith argued that GMH breached its required standard of care when the nurse failed to inform Smith’s mother of Dr. Bryant’s mistake prior to his beginning operation on the correct eyelid. Smith failed to designate an expert witness to testify to the appropriate standard of care. In a medical malpractice action, negligence cannot be established without medical testimony that the defendants failed to use ordinary skill and care. An exception to the general rule requiring a medical expert exists in instances where a layman can observe and understand the negligence as a matter of common sense and practical experience. The layman’s exception is commonly applied in situations where physicians or hospital staff have left foreign objects inside the patient or given the patient the wrong medication. An application of the layman’s exception not only to situations where there is blatant negligence but also to situations involving judgment calls made by professionals would be overly broad. To ask a jury to determine whether a nurse failed to meet the required standard of care by choosing not to go beyond her supervising physician’s authority and inform a patient’s mother of the doctor’s initial mistake without being told what constituted the proper standard of care by an expert would be inappropriate. Therefore, the Court of Appeals erred by concluding that this case is one in which a jury could understand the standard of care without the assistance of an expert witness. |
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