Univ. of Miss. Med. Ctr. v. Gore
| Docket Number: | 2008-CA-01087-SCT | |
| Supreme Court: | Opinion Link Opinion Date: 08-05-2010 Opinion Author: Graves, P.J. Holding: Reversed and rendered. |
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| Additional Case Information: |
Topic: Personal injury - Medical malpractice - Weight of evidence - Standard of care - Expert testimony Judge(s) Concurring: Waller, C.J., Carlson, P.J., Dickinson, Randolph, Lamar, Kitchens, Chandler and Pierce, JJ. Procedural History: Jury Trial Nature of the Case: CIVIL - PERSONAL INJURY |
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| Trial Court: |
Date of Trial Judgment: 03-13-2008 Appealed from: Hinds County Circuit Court Judge: Winston Kidd Disposition: The jury considered the liability of UMC and LifeSource and returned a defense verdict in favor of both. The jury verdict was advisory as to UMC, and the trial court chose not to follow it. It found UMC liable and awarded Gore $326,678.13 in damages. UMC then timely appealed to this Court. Case Number: 251-02-1580-CIV |
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| Party Name: | Attorney Name: | Brief(s) Available: | ||
| Appellant: | The University of Mississippi Medical Center a/k/a University Hospital a/k/a UMC |
LANNY R. PACE, JAMES SETH McCOY |
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| Appellee: | Joey Gore | ROBERT FARLEY WILKINS, JOHN P. FOX | ||
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. |
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| Topic: | Personal injury - Medical malpractice - Weight of evidence - Standard of care - Expert testimony |
| Summary of the Facts: | Joey Gore, who was the recipient of an unsuccessful kidney transplant at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, sued UMC, as well as several other entities, for medical negligence. The matter proceeded to trial against UMC and one other entity, LifeSource Upper Midwest Organ Procurement Organization, Inc. The jury considered the liability of UMC and LifeSource and returned a defense verdict in favor of both. The jury verdict was advisory as to UMC, and the trial court chose not to follow it. It found UMC liable and awarded Gore $326,678.13 in damages. UMC appeals. |
| Summary of Opinion Analysis: | UMC argues that the trial court’s findings of fact supporting the liability finding against UMC are against the overwhelming weight of the evidence. In order to make out a prima facie case of medical negligence, a plaintiff must prove that the defendant had a duty to conform to a specific standard of conduct for the protection of others against an unreasonable risk of injury; the defendant failed to conform to that required standard; the defendant’s breach of duty was a proximate cause of the plaintiff’s injury, and the plaintiff was injured as a result. The general rule is that medical negligence may be established only by expert medical testimony, with an exception for instances where a layman can observe and understand the negligence as a matter of common sense and practical experience. Here, the trial court’s findings of fact supporting its ruling against UMC were not supported by substantial evidence and were manifestly wrong. The overwhelming weight of the evidence indicates that, when the kidney was examined by Dr. Barber in preparation for the transplant, the intimal tear (assuming it existed at that time) would not have been visible to the naked eye. The only expert who testified that Dr. Barber would have been able to see the tear at the time he was examining the kidney prior to transplant (if the tear existed at that point) was Dr. Galvez, whose testimony revealed that he (Dr. Galvez) was uninformed about modern kidney procurement and transplant procedures. Whether or not Dr. Barber breached the established standard of care requiring inspection of the renal artery is irrelevant because, even if a surgeon thoroughly inspected the renal artery prior to transplant, the tear would not have been visible to him/her. Thus, given that Gore did not establish any other standard of care, it is impossible for him to make out a prima facie case for medical negligence. |
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