Griffin v. North Miss. Med. Ctr.
| Docket Number: | 2009-CA-00672-COA Linked Case(s): 2009-CA-00672-COA ; 2009-CT-00672-SCT |
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| Court of Appeals: |
Opinion Link Opinion Date: 01-18-2011 Opinion Author: Griffis, J. Holding: Affirmed. |
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| Additional Case Information: |
Topic: Wrongful death - Negligence - Proximate causation - Lost-chance-of-recovery - Expert testimony Judge(s) Concurring: Myers, P.J., Ishee, Roberts, Carlton and Maxwell, JJ. Non Participating Judge(s): Barnes, J. Dissenting Author : Irving, J. Dissent Joined By : King, C.J., and Lee, P.J. Procedural History: Directed Verdict Nature of the Case: CIVIL - WRONGFUL DEATH |
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| Trial Court: |
Date of Trial Judgment: 04-09-2009 Appealed from: Lee County Circuit Court Judge: Paul S. Funderburk Disposition: Directed Verdict for Appellee Case Number: CV01-207RL |
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| Party Name: | Attorney Name: | Brief(s) Available: | ||
| Appellant: | Manda Griffin, Individually and as a Wrongful Death Beneficiary, and on behalf of all other Wrongful Death Beneficiaries of Gracie M. Stephens, Deceased |
FELECIA PERKINS, HIAWATHA NORTHINGTON II |
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| Appellee: | North Mississippi Medical Center | JOHN G. WHEELER | ||
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: | Wrongful death - Negligence - Proximate causation - Lost-chance-of-recovery - Expert testimony |
| Summary of the Facts: | Manda Griffin filed a wrongful-death claim against North Mississippi Medical Center, alleging that NMMC was vicariously liable for the negligence of a nurse that caused her mother’s death. The court entered a directed verdict in favor of NMMC. Griffin appeals. |
| Summary of Opinion Analysis: | Griffin alleged NMMC was vicariously liable for the nurse’s negligence. The circuit court’s directed verdict was based on the court’s finding that Griffin had failed to present sufficient evidence on the issue of proximate cause. Griffin argues this was error. This case considers a legal theory called the “lost chance of recovery.” To establish the element of proximate cause in a lost-chance-of-recovery case, where the allegation is that a medical provider failed to administer proper care and that the failure allowed an already existing injury to deteriorate, the plaintiff must prove that had proper care been administered then it is probable, or more likely than not, that a substantially better outcome would have resulted. Stated differently, the plaintiff must show that, absent malpractice, there is a greater than fifty-percent chance that a substantially better result would have followed. The essential allegation to be proved in this case was that proper care was not administered and that failure to administer that care allowed an already existing injury to deteriorate. To establish her prima facie case, Griffin had to offer expert testimony to establish that had the nurse timely recognized the blood loss and timely warned a surgeon, the surgeon would have intervened, and that intervention would have, more likely than not, saved her mother’s life. Giffin’s expert did not testify as to what a surgeon would have done had he been notified of the blood loss or what the odds of success would have been had a surgeon timely intervened. He was not an expert in surgery, so any testimony to that effect would have drawn an objection. Indeed, he could not testify as to what a surgeon would have done, nor could he testify that timely surgical intervention would have, more likely than not, saved Griffin’s mother’s life. Thus, the expert did not offer sufficient evidence to support an essential element of Griffin’s prima facie case in this lost-chance-of-recovery case. |
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